Elizabeth Boothe Crumbley

Crumbley Elizabeth Boothe

Elizabeth Boothe Crumbley was born in Pulaski, VA on October 8, 1949, to Helen Louise Boothe Crumbley and Jesse Charles Crumbley, Jr. Her parents are long since deceased, but she is survived by her big brother, Jesse C. Crumbley, III and wife, Laura of Lynchburg, VA; nephew Boothe Bullock Crumbley (Molly); niece Margaret Crumbley Cable (Keith); and great nephews, Aidan Cable and Sebastian Crumbley; and great niece, Morrigan Louise Cable.

She died at her home on May 16, 2025, surrounded by her diabetic cat, and the ghosts of generations of beloved cats and dogs.

She loved a few people, also. Foremost among her relatives were her aunt and uncle Elizabeth and Charles Waldrop, from Savannah, and their children and spouses. Those cousins are Lynn and Roy Smithberg, Jimmy and Cynthia Waldrop, Peter Harris, widower of cousin Beth, and Vivian Waldrop, widow of Cousin Jake. Also from Savannah, aunt Faye and Uncle Tom Crumbley and their children Jennifer Crumbley-Dodson (Stan) and Tom Crumbley, Jr.. She stayed in touch with her local cousins, Malcolm Boothe, and his sister, Libby Kaye. She had many friends from her childhood in Pulaski, and her work at Virginia Tech.

As a child, she was known as “Betty Boothe” and as an adult “Liz”. Elizabeth Taylor and Scarlet O’Hara were her two of her heroines. Liz was fiercely intelligent and feisty. She had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in literature from Radford University and used her writing skill to great effect in her work at Blacksburg.

She had love affairs but never married or had children. She did love her animals. One of those was a heifer born at the farm next to her house. While watching it grow up, she became attached to it and bought it from the farmer who left it in the field. That cow spent all its days in bovine contentment, lingering at Liz’s fence line.

Flowers would be pointless, but a contribution to a charity benefiting animals would be apt.

If any lawyer has written a will for her, would he or she please contact                                     Jess Crumbley 434 610 9395.

The family intends an interment ceremony and reception this summer and will notify those interested through this newspaper.