Marilyn Crowell

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

Marilyn was born in 1939, and had a relatively normal childhood until November 30, 1955 when she was in an automobile accident on a 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.

She bounced around at different hospitals over the next year 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 brought their friends in as well 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 reasons unknown. She passed away April 14, 1961 at Pekin Hospital at the age of 21. She is buried in Lakeside Cemetery in Pekin, Illinois.