Helen Croft Memorial Scholarship

Every year, ASA awards two Scholarships in Helen’s memory to the top two (2) senior candidates who best exemplify Helen’s passion for her community and soccer program.

About Helen Croft

The following obituary was published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Helen Croft was described as the “complete package” at North Allegheny School District’s Hosack Elementary School, where she taught art since the early 1990s.

That description of her seemed apt, as well, among family, friends, neighbors, adolescent soccer players, beneficiaries of her embroidering gifts, acquaintances whose appliances she repaired, people who gaped at her garden, young adults she mentored about the fashion world, and parents she impressed as her school’s faculty representative.

Ms. Croft had many interests and talents, but perhaps best, she simply made other people feel better when they were around her.

“She was just so much fun, so positive,” said fellow North Allegheny art teacher Marjorie Jester. “She had too much life in her for just one person.”

Though viewed as perennially fit and healthy at age 45, Ms. Croft collapsed in her Ben Avon Heights home after exercising Sunday and did not recover. She died at Allegheny General Hospital, with no cause of death yet determined.

In her time at Hosack and other North Allegheny elementary schools, her goal was to make every student feel accomplished. By providing inspiration and patience in a classroom crammed with projects at all stages of completion, she in large part succeeded.

“For someone just walking in who didn’t understand, they might just say it was stuff all over the place,” said Hosack Principal Craig Slaubaugh. “But it was an art room that reflected her personality of creativeness — maybe you’d call it controlled creativity. … And when students walked out, they really knew they were artists.”

Ms. Croft, who grew up with two teachers for parents in Cortland, N.Y., loved to sew from childhood and set out to be a fashion designer, with degrees from Buffalo State University and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.

In her 20s, she held jobs designing coats and maternity wear, and after marrying a husband whose job took him to Pittsburgh, she became an assistant buyer for Kaufmann’s. Motherhood brought a change of lifestyle and career interests, and Ms. Croft obtained a teaching degree that suited her on multiple levels.

Her involvement with children extended to coaching in the Avonworth Soccer Association, where she flashed a more competitive nature than she usually displayed. She was commonly that able, energetic, eager-to-help person out to satisfy others, with natural abilities that melded Martha Stewart and your favorite handyman.

Ms. Croft would take apart a broken lawn mower or vacuum cleaner and put it back together for herself or acquaintances. Her elegant, French-style garden was modeled after some of the finest of Virginia’s Colonial Williamsburg.

She reupholstered furniture and sewed curtains. She made creative meals out of nothing. Her knack for embroidery was evident in the many items that ended up in the hands of others, each bearing their own monograms and patterns, all offered with a smile.

“She’d go to a party and have a towel in one hand for the hostess,” said a friend, Debbie Cuteri. “I have 10 of her embroidered little hand towels, and there must be 10,000 of them out there. … It was a way for her to give part of herself in an endearing way.”

She is survived by her husband, William “Corky” Croft; a son, Jacob; a daughter, Hannah; her mother, Angela Thurlow of Cortland; two brothers, Winthrop Thurlow of Syracuse, N.Y., and Nicholas Thurlow of West Newbury, Mass.; and a sister, Mia Thurlow, also of West Newbury.

Continuing Helen’s Legacy

The Avonworth Soccer Association is proud to honor Helen Croft’s legacy through this annual scholarship. Each year, we look forward to recognizing two graduating seniors who reflect her passion for community, service, and soccer.

As an organization, we are grateful for the opportunity to celebrate Helen’s lasting impact and remain committed to supporting the families, players, and community that make Avonworth such a special place.