Brenda Joyce Hawkins Crawford

Obituary

Brenda Joyce Crawford died on November 10, 2022 at Washington Hospital Center from a previously undetected bone marrow cancer. Though the progression of her illness was unexpectedly swift, she passed away peacefully in loving company.

Brenda was a social butterfly, often moving between circles of friends, yet she deeply valued her alone time and privacy. She loved to travel internationally, especially to French and Spanish speaking countries where she could practice her language skills. A lifelong devotee of health and nutrition, Brenda managed an adult onset of rheumatoid arthritis for years through a strict diet and exercise. She absolutely loved working out at the gym. She was also a foodie, a frequent movie, concert, and theater goer, and a passionate reader and literary conversationalist. The deep red walls of her brownstone on Quincy Place were filled with one of a kind artworks collected both from her travels and from local artists. In her later years, she began to create beautiful pieces of visual art that expressed her own complex inner experience. 

Brenda was born on August 26th, 1944 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1969, Brenda left her hometown for Washington DC. A few years after her arrival she applied for a position at Howard University in the Romance Languages Department (later renamed the Department of World Languages and Cultures). Early into her 45 year tenure at Howard, she met and married Alonzo Crawford, a professor of Film in the School of Communications. Although their marriage was short lived, she and Alonzo cherished their only daughter together, Candice.

Brenda was quickly drawn into the culture at Howard that celebrated the rich variety of cultures from the African diaspora, delighting in the many events focused on the contributions of Black writers, thinkers, and artists. The energy at Howard inspired her to finish her undergraduate degree and go on to obtain two masters degrees, in Social Work and Counseling Psychology. These degrees were put to good use every day in World Languages where the “virtual couch” in her office was always open to students, staff, and faculty alike who would come in for advice, comfort, love, and Brenda’s sparkling laugh. 

In the summer of 2019, Brenda underwent heart surgery to replace a damaged valve. Although she did return to work part-time following the surgery, the Covid-19 pandemic soon followed, and she decided it was time to retire, completing an extraordinary 45-year career at Howard University.

Brenda was passionate about personal development on all levels - spiritual, mental, physical and intellectual. While she sometimes longed for more company in her adventures, she was independent-minded and happily pursued them with or without others. She has been described as a bright light with a warm and inviting personality. She had a laugh that would fill a room and echo down hallways. It was brilliant, unforgettable and contagious. Though her childhood and adolescence was complicated by trauma in her family, she found the creative resilience to pursue joy, healing and liberation whenever she could. As an early teen, she found refuge at a Baptist church she and her mother joined, where she made life-long friends and sang in the gospel choir. She often would say that music and the church saved her. She lived a life that was uniquely hers, on her own terms. 

Brenda is survived by her daughter Candice Alona Crawford-Zakian and daughter-in-law Megan Sandberg-Zakian. Any of Brenda’s many friends will tell you that she was deeply proud of her daughter’s many accomplishments, including Candice’s creative work as a musician, her loving marriage, and her academic achievements which included a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the George Washington University in Psychology and post-doctoral training completed at Harvard University. Candice currently teaches at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.  Brenda is also survived by her two sisters, Pam and Carmen, four nieces, Brandy, Courtney, Tanisha,  Dominique and Dorian and each of their respective families and children, as well as one nephew, Justin. Brenda also lives on in the memories and experiences of countless friends, students, and colleagues whose lives were impacted by her care and guidance.