May 11, 1952 – June 7, 2025
Alethea Valeta Crawford, Val to those who knew her, passed away on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at Monument Health in Rapid City, S.D. at the age of 73. She is survived by her husband, partner, and best friend of 50 years, Brian Crawford of Hot Springs; and her children, Aaron Crawford, LeAnna Crawford, and Iris Crawford; her grandson, Sebastian Crawford; and her brother, Michael Burke.
Val was born to Ida A. and M. Jay Burke on May 11, 1952, a Mother’s Day gift for her mom. As a child, Val and her family moved frequently, spending time in many parts of the country and rural parts of Mexico, but maintained a passion about nutrition and natural health and healing all along the way.
Val’s lifelong dream and devotion was singing. A powerful alto, Val attended Duquesne University to study vocal performance. She paused her education in 1975, but went back and completed her degree in vocal performance at Colorado State University in 1989. Val sang with the Colorado Symphony Chorus in Denver, Colo. for more than a decade, sang every Sunday at the Seventh Day Adventist church in Loveland, Colo. for nearly a decade, and she gave private vocal lessons in Loveland.
Val and Brian met in Twin Falls, Idaho, where Val’s family owned a restaurant called La Casita that served some wickedly spicy homemade salsa—a heat she loved forever after. She and Brian were married in 1976, and moved to Loveland, Colo. in 1978 where she and Brian raised their two children. Brian and Val Crawford were staples of Loveland. They owned Brian’s Hauling and Delivery Service, which became Brian’s Moving and Storage, and had many deep and intimate friendships with many people in Loveland throughout their 25 years in residence.
In the early 2000s, Brian and Val fell in love with the sandstone buildings and small-town life in Hot Springs, S.D. They sold the moving company and moved to Hot Springs in 2003, where they began purchasing and refurbishing some of those very same old sandstone buildings. They built a life and community in the town.
Val is survived by many friends and loved ones, people who feel moved and helped by her love, and her experience, strength, and hope. She is, and will be, sorely missed. A celebration of life for Val will take place in Hot Springs in the coming months.