Obituary of Valerie Grace Wells

Valerie Grace Wells, beloved wife and mother, passed away on September 11, 2015 at age 77. She had fought metastatic breast cancer for 23 years. She is survived by husband Robert Wells and daughter Deborah A. Wells, both of State College, PA, by sisters Christine Smith and Sandra Picton of St. Helens, UK, sister and brother-in-law Barbara and George Todd of La Marina, Spain, brother-in-law and wife Richard and Nora Wells of Lexington, MA, and by numerous nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, and one great-grand-niece. Valerie was born in Liverpool, UK, to Mary Grace and Charles Thomas Crossley in the late winter of 1938. Initially, she was not among the children evacuated to Wales during WWII. She could still remember the barrage balloons hanging over the harbor, and hiding under the stairs from air raids. She said the bombs weren't that close the nearest landed two blocks away! But when her mother passed away at age 21 from complications of tuberculosis, social services placed her in the evacuation system, and she went to live in Bethesda, Wales with an older couple who had continually fostered children, as their last foster child. The Thomases encouraged her lifelong love of nature and learning in general, and gave her some of the happiest years of her life. When Valerie's father remarried to Elsie (nee Harris) Crossley, and they settled in St. Helens, England, she was moved back to live with them. That union gave her three much-cherished younger sisters over the course of the next several years. Life in England after the war was still difficult; rationing continued into the 1950s. Valerie worked on the floor of the local glass factory, then after an accident in the business office, for 11 years after leaving school. She made a number of enduring friendships with the other office workers. When she took an opportunity to work as a nanny in the United States for a year, she always expected to return to those friends and family. But in New York, the neighbor's wife set her up on a date with her son's roommate, a graduate student named Robert Wells, who was studying math in Princeton, NJ. They married the next year, and relocated to Chicago. Four years later, Valerie and Robert had their first and only child, Deborah Anne. A sabbatical to Sao Paulo, Brazil with a nine-month old child in 1970 was something that Valerie remembered as a much more nerve-wracking adventure than even the decision to come to America. Robert spoke Spanish, but she spoke neither Spanish nor Portuguese. Valerie never liked large cities, so after New York, Chicago, Sao Paulo, then Chicago again, she very much welcomed the move to the idyllic Penn State University in State College. She loved the mountains here, which reminded her of her childhood in Wales, and the pace of the town agreed with her much more than urban life. Their new home was in Park Forest, and Valerie instantly started to bird-watch and garden. She kept records of all of the birds she saw, and when they reappeared each year. She fed squirrels too. She dug up and moved innumerable large stones from the rocky soil, and used them as paths and edging. The shadow-plagued grass was uncooperative anyway, and by the time they moved across town a year ago, most of the yard was covered in flower beds. She always disliked the amount of shade that hung over the house in Park Forest, but she would never cut down a tree just to get more sun. This was characteristic of her love of nature. She had a near-phobia of spiders, and couldn’t even stand pictures of them in National Geographic, but would catch them and put them outside carefully rather than killing them. Robert and Valerie were given two baby turtles by Robert's brother Richie and sister Moni, when they were still apartment dwellers in Chicago. One did not survive to adult turtlehood, but with help from Valerie, feeding him boiled ham, and taking him on excursions into the yard, the other grew to be almost a foot in length and lived for 14 years. Valerie made friends with every animal she met. Deborah's short-lived guinea pig was much loved, and the family dog, Britannia, was missed every day after the 15 years she lived. In Valerie's retirement, there were family cats, which she pampered and entertained unfailingly. And visiting the cats in Wiscoy became part of her Saturday routine after crepes in Callao Cafe. Valerie stayed in close touch with her foster parents until their passing, with her friends and family in the UK, and with friends from Chicago over the years by writing reams of letters. When Deborah went to church camp for a week each summer in her childhood, Valerie wrote her a letter every day. Typing was not for her; handwritten letters were always her preference. If she was not able to be outside, she would write letters, read books, and do jigsaw puzzles and crossword puzzles. The closest friends Valerie made in State College, beyond some from Robert's work, were the people at the Park Forest Village United Methodist Church. The UMC Ladies were a large part of her life from the time the family began attending the church 37 years ago. When she moved across town to a more accessible house last year, her biggest regrets were not feeling able to get to as many church functions to see her friends, and leaving the house in Park Forest with the garden and the sunroom. The memorial service will be held at the Park Forest United Methodist Church, 1833 Park Forest Avenue, at 11 a.m. on November 14, with a reception to follow at the church. All are invited to attend. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to one of Valerie's favorite organizations: The PFVUMC, the UM World Service Fund, CARE, the World Wildlife Fund, the Lymphedema Foundation or any of the local animal rescue organizations such as: Fonda’s Foundlings, Pets Come First, PAWS, or a similar choice. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com or visit us on Facebook.