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Continued: Getting to know you: The Reverend Anne Crawford by Fran Darlington

After arriving in Canada in 1974, Anne "became a Canadian citizen as soon as I could. I couldn't bear not voting. My mother always telephoned during any election to ask 'Have you voted?' because she remembered that 'women and men chained themselves to railings so you could!'"

Anne remains a proud Canadian: "I love it, it's home! My heroine is Nellie McClung." Active in the Oakville and Burlington Little Theatres, Anne directed a play about her heroine at Roy Thompson Hall as a fundraiser for the Canadian Women's Lacrosse Team, and acted in other plays. "When I was younger, I wanted to do theatre or the Church; now I'm doing both, and they're intertwined!" She also ran a second-hand shop at one time.

Family, Fun and Faithfulness

Married to Arnold Crawford, a chalice bearer at St. Luke's, Anne is proud of her children, Jane, George and Hank, and of her stepchildren, Lou-Anne and Cameron, all living busy lives in various parts of North America.

For recreation, Anne swims every day ("I've been told we use our tongues more than our arms and legs."), loves doing needlework, especially cross-stitch, plays piano and guitar (she has two), enjoys the Cryptic crossword in the Saturday Globe and Mail, and, like most clergy, reads a variety of books. She collects first editions of Nellie McClung's writings. Anne happily pokes fun at herself, admitting "I'm a compulsive Value Village and Good Will poker-around. I go to the hairdresser and read People magazine cover-to-cover; I don't know the people, but I love it!"

Anne cheerfully admits, "One of the great joys of getting older is that you're not out to prove anything. You're accountable to God--that may not be politically correct, but the question always is, 'Is this what God wants me to do?"

As long as men and women find the faith and courage to ask themselves that question, ministry in our Diocese and beyond will thrive. For Niagara's College of Deacons, and for those who receive their care, Anne Crawford's commitment and delight in diaconal service are a profound inspiration and example. If you see a bright yellow Mazda beetling around Burlington, driven by a woman with a big warm smile, it's probably Anne on her way to do just what God wants her to do.

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