Connie Lee Crawford, 65, of Columbia, Missouri, died Thursday, August 11, 2016, at the Boone Hospital Center in Columbia, Missouri following a courageous battle with cancer.

She was born June 24, 1951 in Kirksville, Missouri to Ivalee Pearl (Whittom) and Sam Crawford.

Connie attended Prairie View Grade School in rural Scotland County and then Scotland County R-1 High School where she graduated with the class of 1969. Following her high school graduation, she enrolled at Northeast Missouri State College in Kirksville, Missouri. Then in 1972, upon learning that the certification she was seeking was no longer being provided by Northeast Missouri State, Connie enrolled at the Rolla Technical Center in Rolla, Missouri to complete their program for a Licensed Practical Nurse certification. Connie then worked for several years in the Emergency Room at the Phelps County Hospital in Rolla. She then relocated to Columbia, Missouri, where she worked for several years in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Continuing her nursing career, she attended the State Fair Community College in Sedalia, Missouri; thereafter, in 1984 she attained her "Registered Nurse" certification. After completing her RN certification, she worked in the operating room at Bothwell Hospital in Sedalia. Returning to Columbia she joined the Boone Hospital Center surgery department where she specialized in neurosurgery and cardiac surgery. She was in that position for twenty-eight years, until her retirement in 2014. During her tenure at Boone Hospital Center, she completed the requirements for a Certified Nurse for Operating Rooms (CNOR); a distinguished accomplishment, and she was a member of the American Nurses Association.

Connie had a passion for helping and caring for people from an early age when she became a Red Cross certified life guard and worked at the Memphis swimming pool. She also cared for her aging parents for the past ten years. She has been described by co-workers as a person who gained the respect of physicians and nurses, alike. She was a "patient advocate" and cared deeply about their wellbeing. She was a mentor to many nurses over the years, helping them to attain a successful career, and she made a positive indelible mark on all her peers. Connie was a loving, outgoing woman who cared deeply for others, and expended her life in their behalf.

She enjoyed collecting antiques and enjoyed many shopping trips with her mother to search for such treasures. She was also an avid reader as is evidenced by the many books in her possession.

She was preceded in death by her father, a nephew, Rodney Keith Crawford; an aunt, Nellie Lowder and two uncles: Earl T. Crawford and William "Frank" Crawford.

Connie is survived by her mother, Ivalee Crawford, of Columbia, Missouri; a brother, Samuel Keith Crawford, of Columbia, Missouri; three aunts: Lucille Winkelman of Huntley, Illinois; Edith Gordan and her husband, Robert, of Huntley, Illinois and Mary Belle Moffett, of Columbia, Missouri. Other survivors include cousins and many friends.