Sarah-Marie Crinnion

October 21, 1921 - December 6, 2017

Passed away peacefully on December 6, 2017 at the age of 96, following a long struggle with memory loss. Beloved wife of the late Donald Crinnion and loving mother of Marie Crinnion (Richie McAllister). “Favorite” sister of the late James J. O’Brien (Cynthia), and cherished aunt of Jim O’Brien (Debbie), Kathy O’Brien Sunderland, Tom O’Brien (Ginny), the late Johnny O’Brien, and their families.

Sarah-Marie attended St. Elizabeth’s High School in Oakland, and then graduated from College of the Holy Names in 1943. She received her Masters in Education from UC Berkeley in 1951. A career educator, Sarah-Marie taught elementary school for almost 50 years, including a two-year stint in Japan. While planning to adopt her daughter in the 1960s, she transferred to Kindergarten in order to learn more about early childhood education. In Kindergarten, she found her true home and became “Mrs. Crinnion, Room 13, Frank Otis School, Alameda” for almost 30 years. She taught children and even grandchildren of former students.

Sarah-Marie was proud of her Irish heritage and often recounted the harsh discrimination faced by her ancestors as they tried to make a new life in the United States. This left a warm place in her heart for immigrant families, both at school and in her adopted city of San Francisco. She especially loved children and newcomers, and was devoted to aiding people struggling with poverty.

Sarah-Marie vividly remembered the bread lines at her father’s bakery in Hanford, CA during the Great Depression. She continued her family’s tradition of charitable works through her involvement at St. Brigid’s Church and later St. Vincent de Paul. She was also a member of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, making sandwiches on Saturdays for their Ozanam Center. After her retirement in 1991, Sarah-Marie became a long-time volunteer at St. Anthony’s Dining Room, where she handed out beverages to the guests faithfully every week, and became fondly known as “the drink lady” until she could no longer serve.

Friends may visit Friday, December 15, 2017 from 10am-11am at Duggan’s Serra Mortuary, 500 Westlake Avenue, Daly City, CA 94014. Private interment. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated Saturday, January 20, 2018, at 1pm at St. Agnes Church, 1025 Masonic Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94117. Please, no flowers. Instead, please consider a memorial donation to St. Anthony Foundation, 150 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102.