Neva Criswell, 89, of Bryan, died Friday morning, Jan. 30, 2004, at Harborside Healthcare Northwestern Ohio-Bryan.
Born Aug. 9, 1914, at Hicksville, to Grace A. (Haddix) and Walter W. Miller, she married Rodney E. Criswell on July 7, 1934, at Moundsville, W.Va., and he preceded her in death in 1978.
A 1933 graduate of Edgerton High School, she was known as the "Candy Lady", working at the candy counter at J.J. Newberry Co., formerly of Bryan. She then worked as a cashier at the Red and White Super Market, which was also of Bryan. She retired from the Chief Super Market/Ben Franklin variety store as a floor supervisor for the Ben Franklin department.
Surviving is a son, Stan (and wife, Cheryl) Criswell of Toledo; four grandchildren, Carrie Criswell Sanchez, Meredith Hill, Tammy Lewis and Craig Lewis; seven great-grandchildren; and a sister, Wayva Steele of Northville, Mich. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by a daughter, Nancy J. Thibodeau in 1999; two brothers, Vaughn and Marvin Miller; and a sister, Marvel Auten.
Visitation will be held Monday from 9-11 a.m. in the Rice-Burr Funeral Home, Bryan. Funeral services will be held Monday at 11 a.m. in the funeral home with Pastor Michael Denman from the Church of the Cross United Methodist Church, Toledo, to officiate. Burial will follow at Maple Grove Cemetery, Edgerton. Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.

**Note**My Grandma Criswell. The first thought that comes to mind about my Grandma Criswell is I don't recall ever hearing her make a negative comment about another person. I don't recall her ever raising her voice at my brother or I. I do recall hearing her correct my Grandfather once or twice and he let her. She was the proverbial Grandma. If there is one person that could have played the role of Mrs. Claus in a play and have her personality fit the part as close to reality as possible, it was Grandma Criswell. To this day I can still hear her giggle. If there was something troubling her she never told you. It seems her whole mission in life was to cater to those she loved. She loved to feed people, and then feed them some more. Lunches were feasts and dinners were an extravaganza. If you walked away from the table not completely stuffed, it wasn't because she didn't try.

My Grandparents owned a strip of land outside of Bryan that we called the "patch." I assume the plan was for my Grandparents to some day build a home on the patch. I don't know for certain though, I never asked. One was never built, but there was a shed on the piece of land that held all of the gardening utensils and mowing equipment. We would go out to the patch to tend to the garden. Grandma would ride her mower to cut the grass. I was allowed to ride it on the flat surfaces. The property was abit hilly. The prettiest rocks were scattered around the patch. I would always bring some home. To this day when I am out walking, if I see a pretty rock, I bring it home. Grandma would always pack us a picnic lunch whenever we went out there. We had fun. She was fun. She was petite and cute as a button.

She absolutely loved having garage sales. She and her sister Wava were partners. I would venture a guess that her garage sales were famous around Bryan. She too collected antiques. It was a love passed down by her Mother, Grace Miller. It is the same tradition all of us have carried forward.

If there is one person in my lifetime that I have received ABSOLUTELY unconditional love from, it is my Grandma Criswell. She was always my safe haven, my light.