Anne Stahl Crowley

After a full, active and rewarding life, Anne Stahl Crowley passed away on Saturday, August 2, 2008, at Hospice of Northwest Ohio Surrounded by her loving family. Anne was born August 21, 1921 in Independence, Missouri to Nellie M. and William T. Couser. She graduated from Central High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1938 where she was assistant editor of the school yearbook. This sparked the beginning of a life-long career in advertising, marketing and public relations. She married David W. Stahl in 1941 and lived in Tulsa where she began raising four children; they divorced in 1970. In 1952 the family moved to Bellevue, Ohio where she established Anne Stahl Advertising, one-woman ad agency with local and regional clients. During this same time, Anne was a partner in a toy design company that invented, among other items, the Whistling Yoyo for Duncan Yoyo. In 1961 the advertising firm was renamed The Stahl Associates, Inc. and moved to Bryan, Ohio to service the Ohio Art Company, a relationship that lasted for 18 years. Her counsel in matters such as Today Show hosts Hugh Downs, Barbara Walters and Gene Shalit as well as radio host Arthur Godfrey to advertise Etch a Sketch helped it become a standard in the toy industry. In 1973 the agency opened a second office in Toledo servicing such clients as Pepsicola. Throughout the years, Anne received a number of local, regional and national awards for creative work. She was honored as Advertising Woman of the Year by the Womens Advertising Club of Toledo in 1974. She sold the business in the mid-80s. Anne married Joseph A. Crowley in 1974. Several years later they moved to their beloved dairy farm outside Wilmington, Ohio. Anne managed the farm and began breeding registered Jersey cows, winning numerous awards at county fairs around Ohio. After Joes death in 1990, Anne lived in Cincinnati and attended the Art Academy of Cincinnati for a year before moving back to Toledo. Anne traveled extensively including trips to Japan, Korea, China, Russia, Greece, the former Yugoslavia and Hungary, a number of European countries, Australia and New Zealand. She was a member of Zonta, the Advertising Club of Toledo, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Club and Toledo Country Club. She loved cooking, gardening, sculpting, and playing bridge. Most of all she enjoyed entertaining family and friends, and the family recipes she published in two cookbooks continue to be enjoyed by many. In later years, she volunteered with the St. Lukes Auxiliary. She found great spiritual fulfillment and strength from her membership in the Community of Christ Church. Anne was preceded in death by her parents, husbands, brother Billy Couser and cousin, Claire Burnett. Surviving to cherish her memory are sons Mitch Cindy Stahl, Sylvania amd Patrick Sandee Crowley, Toledo; daughters, Charlotte Ameter, Lincoln, CA.; Margaret Greer, Toledo; Barbara Stahl, Sylvania; Katie Mark Hightower, Cabot, AR; and Kathie Crowley, Toledo; 14 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; sister-in-law JoAnn Couser, Kansas City, MO; two nieces and one nephew. Friends are invited to visit between 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 3rd at the Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home, 501 Conant Street, Maumee, Ohio. A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. Monday August 4th at the funeral home, followed by interment at Ottawa Hills Memorial Park Cemetery. The family suggests any donations in Annes memory be made to the Joseph A. and Anne Stahl Crowley Memorial Scholarship Fund at the Toledo Museum of Art, the South Cove Community of Christ Church, Toledo or Hospice of Northwest Ohio. www.walkerfuneralhomes.com