Founded Christmas International and spoke fluent German
MELROSE — Lora “Lee” Erhard Crouss, 106, passed away quietly on Sunday, November 21, 2021 at her home.
She was a lifelong resident of Melrose and well known in Melrose and Malden where she had been a kindergarten teacher for many years.
She was the daughter of William Leroy Erhard and Florence Pendleton Erhard. Lora was the fourth generation of her family to reside in Melrose. Lora was a 1935 graduate of Wheelock College with a degree in Early Childhood Education after which she received her Master’s Degree in Education from Boston University.
She was a very active parishioner with the First Congregational Church of Melrose and served on many committees and boards. Lora was one of the first trustees of the Melrose Congregational Retirement Home in the early 1970s. She was a founder of Christmas International in the 1950s, an organization dedicated to hosting international students over the Christmas holidays.
Lora made many international friends and had pen pals from many different countries. She traveled to Europe a number of times to visit her friends. She was fluent in German.
Lora was predeceased by her husband of 25 years, Harold Crouss who died in 1968; her sister Dorothy Erhard Blouin Cole and a foster son, Donald Wells. She leaves her beloved adopted son, Sergio Kinsala; along with her “special nieces and nephews” Scott Erhard Blouin of Sunapee, NH; Martha Blouin Hamel of Duxbury; Ross Edward Blouin of Somerville and Andrea Blouin Quarantello of Revere.
Funeral arrangements are being made by Gately Funeral Home of Melrose. A graveside service will take place on December 8 at 11a.m. at the Pendleton-Whitman-Erhard family plot in the Wyoming Cemetery in Melrose. A memorial service is being planned for spring 2022.
