Marilyn Crowell

Marilyn Crowell lived a short life, most of it outside of Washington. However, she had a positive impact on our town during her short stay.

Marilyn was born in 1939 and had a relatively normal childhood until November 30, 1955, when she was in an automobile accident on an icy patch of road in Alton, Illinois, with three other teenagers.  While the three other passengers in the vehicle received only minor injuries, Crowell was paralyzed, retaining movement only in her head, arms, and shoulders.

Over the next year, she bounced around at different hospitals as the somewhat transient family moved about. On January 23, 1958, she was admitted to the Washington Nursing Center, by far the youngest resident at the facility. She was admitted to the Washington Center because it was one of the first in the nation to pioneer a groundbreaking rehabilitation program.

Crowell was called a "ray of sunshine" at the facility.  Listening to rock & roll, reading voraciously, and possessing a mesmerizing smile, she made an immediate impact at the Center filled with elderly residents.

She also galvanized the town.  The Washington Rotary Club supplied her with a television set, the Washington Library brought books in for her to read, and the high school tried to find ways for her to continue her schooling at the Nursing Center.

Crowell befriended facility employees Bonnie Weaver and Mona Belt, who also brought their friends in to give Marilyn a sizable group to socialize with.  She also had a chess partner from Eureka College who would come over regularly to challenge her.

Eventually, Crowell was discharged from the Washington Nursing Center for unknown reasons.  She passed away on April 14, 1961, at Pekin Hospital at the age of 21.  She is buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Pekin, Illinois.