Madelyn Kay Crouch

If cleanliness is next to Godliness, then she was seated right smack-dab in his lap. How a woman with 5 kids could keep an immaculate household remains a mystery to this day. (Word has it she made her kids clean and vacuum before company arrived. And we have it on good authority that at least one child still indulges in that practice.)

Madelyn Kay Crouch passed away on Wednesday, August 20th, 2025 surrounded by her loving family. She was born February 21, 1944 to Charles and Jean Dolder, formerly of Serena, before moving to a farm just west of Somonauk when she was 12. She graduated from Somonauk High school in 1962 and hit the ground running by getting married and having 5 children in rapid succession.

When she wasn't active in the community or volunteering (for 50+ years) with the Somonauk Junior Women's Club, you could find her playing saxophone in the Indian Valley Community Band, and singing in the choir at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in her earlier years. She loved music and she loved to sing.

She worked as a personal banker at the Farmer's State Bank in Somonauk for 25 years before retiring in 2012. She was also, for a time, treasurer of the Village of Somonauk, the Somonauk Library District, the Dekalb County Federated Woman's Club and the Somonauk Merchant's Association, in addition to waitressing at the Pioneer Supper Club as well as writing for the local newspapers and reporting the Village Hall minutes to the local radio station, WSPY. (Her kids could remember hearing her from their upstairs bedroom typing away at the kitchen table late into many an evening trying to meet a newspaper deadline.)

She would take her kids most every summer to Marriott's Great America, or swimming over at the Sportsman's Club in Sandwich (provided everyone got their chores done, which could include anything from vacuuming the living room, to hanging the clothes out on the clothesline to dry, or picking beans out of the garden.)

But there were also times when she could be really mean to her kids, especially when she'd make them dry and put away the dishes or make them clean their room-- so much so, that 2 of them decided to run away from home and go out to their beloved Nana's just outside of town, throwing their toys and stuffed animals out the bathroom window, jumping out said window themselves and loading up their wagon and heading out the back end of Somonauk. Their efforts were thwarted when she drove up in the car, rolled down the window and said “Get your little fannies back home” and then turned around and left. She didn't even give them a ride! What a meanie!

When her daughter would be belligerent and sass her back, she'd respond, shaking her finger in the air, “Now listen here, little Miss Muffet!” And she certainly wasn't above washing her kid's mouths out with soap when called for, with one especially remembering teeth-marks remaining on the bar, post-washing! None of them to this day will ever forget the taste of Ivory Soap. If you know, you KNOW!

She wore many hats and had achieved more accolades, awards, and recognitions than can be listed here, from a “Certificate of Achievement” from the GFWC (General Federation of Women's Club) Illinois Junior Organization in 1992 for a lifetime of service award, to an “Illinois Woman of Achievement” award given her by Lt. Gov. Corinne Wood in April of 2000.

She was incredibly active, walking to and from work for over 20 years, and she could outwalk anyone, even those half her age, so much so, her grandkids called her gait “The Granny Shuffle.”

One of her favorite sayings was “This too shall pass” to which her son would add, “Yeah, like a kidney stone!” and then they'd both laugh.

Madelyn always hosted the family every Christmas Eve and in the earlier years she'd bake a multitude of different kinds of cookies of which to give away. To this day, the smell of almond extract always reminds one of her kids of “the Holidays”-- because of the Spritz cookies she'd bake every Christmas.

She was extremely economical, and could feed a family of 7 on 2 pounds of hamburger, 3 eggs and a cup of oatmeal, and STILL have leftovers for a week! She could also make a 3- bean salad using only one kind of bean and magic markers.

She always ironed her pillow cases, and she enjoyed the scent of pine sol because it meant things were clean. She also put moth balls in her vacuum cleaner bags to clean and purify the air while vacuuming. So, if you should ever invite her kids over to your house and it smells like pine sol and moth balls, we'll know where you got it from. Thanks for the cleaning tips, Madelyn!

She was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Jean Dolder, her husband, John Crouch, her brother Steve Dolder, her daughter LeeAnn Haas and her son, Jay Haas.

Her 3 remaining sons are: Bruce (Deb) Haas of Columbia, SC; Jeff (Shelley) Haas of Homer Glen, IL; and her favorite son, of course , Brad Haas, of Orlando, FL. She is also regrettably leaving behind 9 beloved grandchildren, and 10 Great grandchildren, with another on the way.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Eighner's Funeral Home in Somonauk on Friday, 8/29 from 5-8 PM, with at Funeral Mass officiated by Fr. Joseph Naill at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church at 10 AM the morning of 8/30. Burial will follow at St. John’s Catholic Cemetery in Somonauk. Donations and/or memorials may be made in Madelyn's name to The Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org) or to the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org) or the Open Door in Sandwich. And don't forget about the moth balls and pine sol. For more information or to sign the online guestbook go to www.EighnerFuneralHomes.com

Turner-Eighner Funeral Home

13160 W. Rt 34 ~ P.O. Box 404

Somonauk, IL 60552

815-498-2363