1929
2017
7000 BLUE RIDGE BLVD
Kansas City, Missouri
Lavena Marie Crooks was a prairie girl from Deora, Colorado, where her parents, Arthur & Reta Dockum, homesteaded and ranched.
The fifth of eight children, Lavena was a "daddy's girl", always placing her left hand on her daddy's right arm as they ate their meals. The bond was special and deep, perhaps resulting from her traumatic illness as a baby. At 15 months of age, Lavena contracted pneumonia, struggling between life and death. The impact on Arthur & Reta was profound, resulting in their turn to God from a life of atheism.
Lavena also became fast friends with younger brother, Burl. Together they pretended to "farm" with homemade toys, performed acrobatics in the hay barn, waded in the creek and herded real cattle in the pastures. In the long winters, they played paper dolls cut from Sears catalogs or Lavena would read stories to Burl from a miniature dictionary, creating the plot as she turned the pages.
After a dust storm destroyed the ranch, the Dockum family moved to May, Oklahoma. Arthur pastored a small church, where the Crooks family also attended. Lavena quickly set her eyes on a young Crooks boy ... but it wasn't Ray. After high school and several years in Bible college, Lavena finally turned her attention to another Crooks brother...one who was set on marrying the tall, regal Dockum daughter. They were married on August 26, 1950, and five years later, Ray, Lavena and their two small daughters, Pammie & Pattie, landed on the beautiful island of Jamaica, where they completed seven years of teaching and preaching. Already a proficient musician, Lavena learned to play the full peddle organ at the Jamaica School of Music.
Many years were spent on the sprawling campus of KCCBS, where Lavena worked tirelessly as professor and as an editor at the Herald and Banner Press. Only the rare person could escape her gentle correction of etiquette and grammar ... it was just built into her. While at the Herald & Banner, Lavena developed a new Sunday School paper that became widely used in several conservative denominations.
After raising their daughters, Ray and Lavena moved to North Pole, Alaska, for eight happy years, where Lavena assisted Ray in pastoring the Fairbanks Native Chapel. She also worked as a comptroller with the Alaska Bureau of Land Management.
Lavena loved music, angels, and all things creative. She thrived while playing organ in churches, directing choirs and drama in schools, sketching or chalk drawings, and writing plays. While in Alaska, Lavena wrote the biography of her daddy, A Disciple Called Arthur, and the Holiness book, Build Me A Sanctuary. Later in life she took delight in knitting, crocheting and quilting, as well as contributing as a writer for the Herald and Banner Press.
Lavena's entire life was marked by selfless and sacrificial acts of service. She stood faithfully by Ray's side as they poured love. prayers, teaching, and coaching into the lives of others. Her love for God, support of Ray and care of her daughters were marked by consistency, loyalty, devotion, and unprecedented...adoration.
In her final years, Lavena resided in Colorado Springs, where she said goodbye to her loving and precious "Ray" in October of 2015. Until the end, even when nothing else made sense, words still played themselves out in humorous puns, to the delight of her family and care-givers. Just like her daddy, Lavena always had an arnazing quick wit, and for her, words and the tales they spun, were her world. Lavena passed away peacefully on May 15, 2017 at the age of 87, after a long battle with Alzheimer's.
Lavena is survived by her children, Pamela & Howard Robinson of Olathe, KS; Patricia & Mark McNab, of Divide, Colorado; her nine grandchildren: Michelle & Lyle Witt, of Cincinnati, OH, Mathieu & Evelyn McNab, of Colorado Springs, CO; Letisha Robinson, of Merriam, KS; Ashton & Kezia McNab, of Boise, ID; Jill & Neil McRae, of Castle Rock, CO; her six great grandchildren: Bryan, Landon, Emily & Julie Witt, of Cincinnati, OH; Knox & unborn baby boy McNab, of Boise, ID; sisters: Rosetta Riggs, of Overland Park, KS; and Ardena McConnell, of Marshfield, MO; brothers: Burl Dockum, of Hutchison, KS; and Floyd Dockum, of Comanche, TX.
All who knew Lavena were consistently reminded that Heaven was for real, and preparation for that great place, paramount. Her expectations were understood… someday a grand reunion would be on those golden streets. Not only were each of us personally invited, but it was (and is) imperative that we be there! Without a doubt, our attendance will make her life on Earth “worth it all”.
Funeral services for Lavena will be 1:00 pm, Saturday, May 20th, 2017, at Church of God (Holiness), 6801 W 74th St., Overland Park, KS, 66204. Burial will follow at Floral Hills Memorial Gardens in Kansas City, MO. Family will receive friends Friday, May 19th, from 6:00pm – 8:00pm, at the church.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Sponsored by Newcomer's Floral Hills Funeral Home & Floral Hills Cemetery.
6 Entries
May 23, 2017
Student
Martha P
She was a great inspiration to her students! What a beautiful Christian lady who was well versed in Scripture and outstanding in writing and in teaching writing!
May 20, 2017
Cathy McGehee
Loved this wonderful Christian Lady who was avpraying woman. What a great person she was.
May 20, 2017
Patty Long
She was a great inspiration & Christian example & teacher to so many of us ! Sad to loose her , but shes went on to that reward in Heaven , she worked all her life for & now with her love , Raymond &all other loved ones ,, what a reunion they are having !!
May 19, 2017
David &Joy Blythe
We are very sorry to have heard of. the passing of Sister Crooks. We have had the greatest pleasure of being entertained by Sister Crooks & her wonderful husband in their beautiful home. We also had the honor of having them spending a few days in our home when we were living in Jamaica. They both were really true followers of the gospel. Today is really a sad for all of us who knew her. May her soul rest in peace. Our sincere condolences to the family.Love to all fr. David & Joy Blythe & our daughters.
May 18, 2017
Melba Brewer
Sorry of your loss. May God help you at this time. She was my English teacher in college.
Love and Prayers,
Gary and Melba Brewer
May 18, 2017
Vashti Goins
What a beautiful Godly woman, that will be greatly missed! She always seemed to portray characteristics of Proverbs 31 woman. Loved her.
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