Alice Vanco

Alice Crozier Vanco, age 86, passed away surrounded by her family on April 1, 2014.

A lifelong resident of Edinboro, PA, Alice loved to sing and was a frequent soloist at Edinboro First Presbyterian and then Bethel Presbyterian Church, where she was a longtime member. She was a noted and creative cook who regularly blessed scores of friends and neighbors with her baking, cooking and canning, and is especially remembered for her dill pickles. Alice was a farm wife, a partner in the family enterprise of milking cows, making hay, cutting cabbage-a life she loved but gladly escaped in the late 1960s, when she and her husband purchased Crossingville Builders Supply, later known as Vanco Builders Supply. She was kind, caring, and constantly at work. She kept the house, milked the cows, kept the books, ran the store, kept flower and vegetable gardens, raised four children, and never failed to remember birthdays, anniversaries and holidays with cards and gifts for her friends and dozens of nieces and nephews. In her retirement, she devoted herself to good works for her church and community, and was always there to provide support for a worthy project or a ride for a friend.

Alice was born in Edinboro, PA, on July 12, 1927, the daughter of Jesse and Bess Thompson Crozier. She was the widow of John Vanco, Jr., to whom she was married for 61 years. She was also preceded in death by her sisters Bernice Brogdon Henderson, Mary Bennett, and Agnes Bryan, her brother, Thomas Crozier, and a grandson, Stephen J. Vanco, Jr. Alice is survived by her beloved sister Jean Proud and sister-in-law Mary White Crozier; three sons, John L. Vanco and Kelly Armor of Erie, Stephen J. and Sheryl Vanco of Bear Lake, PA, Timothy T. and Cindy Vanco of Edinboro and McKean, PA; her daughter, Kathy Sue and Jeff Ross of Sarasota, FL and Albion, PA; seven grandchildren, John H., Christopher, Jesse, Peter, Alisa, and Lincoln Vanco, and Andrew J. Ross; three great-grandchildren, Conner, Ronan, and Mathilda Alice Vanco; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In keeping with Alice's wishes, there will be no funeral. Her friends are invited to join with her family at a memorial service and party celebrating her life, beginning at 11 a.m., Saturday, June 7, 2014 in the pavilion at Bethel Presbyterian. Memorial gifts may be made to Bethel Presbyterian Church, 8990 Crane Rd., Cranesville, Pennsylvania 16410, or to the Erie Art Museum, 411 State Street, Erie, PA 16501. Arrangements entrusted to Burton Funeral Home and Crematory, 602 W. 10th St.