Elizabeth M. Crosby, 106, of Sycamore, Ill., a teacher at Portage Park School in Chicago for 51 years, died Sunday, Aug. 4, in the DeKalb County Rehabilitation and Nursing Home. Born on a farm in Blackberry Township, south of Elburn, Ms. Crosby completed teacher training at what is now Northern Illinois University. She first taught in a one-room country schoolhouse heated with a wood-burning stove that she stoked. In 1915 she transferred to Portage Park School. For her 100th birthday party, many of her former students attended, including Robert Jensen, a 1943 graduate who took Ms. Crosby’s 7th-grade history class. “She was loving but strict. If you paid attention to her, you had no problems. She didn’t tolerate too much commotion,” he said. She never married or had children and became a favorite “auntie” to her late brother Jim’s eight children. When she retired in 1966 to travel in the United States and Europe, her 8th-grade class penned her a letter. “You softly touched each one of us and in doing so, enriched us all,” they wrote. Survivors include eight nieces and nephews. Services have been held.
