Mary Barbara LaFollette Cromer

Mary Barbara LaFollette Cromer, 96, passed away on March 10, 2025, in Williamsport, Maryland. Born in Winchester, Virginia, in 1929, she was the daughter of the late Russell O. and Mary Margaret Spaid LaFollette.

Though she grew up in Winchester, her heart was always drawn to the family farm in nearby Highview, West Virginia, where her grandparents lived. Barbara survived polio, which she contracted in 1945, and defied all terminal prognoses to ultimately raise a family and live a long, full life.

She graduated from John Handley High School in Winchester and, in 1952, earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Wilmington College in Wilmington, Ohio—following in the footsteps of her grandfather, Arthur R. M. Spaid, a renowned educator. She later attained a master’s equivalency in education and pursued a teaching career. Barbara was a longtime elementary school teacher for Washington County Public Schools, teaching 4th grade at Boonsboro and Williamsport Elementary Schools.

A lover of houseplants, cut flowers, and crafts, Barbara owned and operated the Decorating with Plants store in the Valley Mall, Hagerstown, throughout the 1980s.

She was preceded in death by her former husband, Robert V. Cromer of Hagerstown, in 2006, as well as her two siblings, Russell LaFollette (2017) and Jean LaFollette Stoutamyer (2018). She is survived by her two sons, Greg Cromer of Stephens City, Virginia, and Kevin Cromer of Burkittsville, Maryland; two grandchildren, Nathan and Faith Cromer; and three great-grandchildren, Eleanor, Winston, and Gabriel Cromer.

Funeral services will be held at Rest Haven Cemetery in Hagerstown, Maryland, on Friday, March 21. Visitation will be between 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM, followed by a graveside service.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Homewood Foundation  https://homewood.com/foundation