Marianne Elser Crowder was, until her death, the oldest living Girl Scout

Girl Scouts of the USA

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It describes itself as "the world's preeminent organization dedicated solely to girls". It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912 and was organized after Low...

 in the United States.

She joined the Wagon Wheel Council Troop 4 in 1918 and got her Golden Eaglet, then the GSUSA highest award. She later operated her own dance studio

Dance studio

A dance studio is a space in which dancers learn or rehearse. The term is typically used to describe a space that has either been built or equipped for the purpose....

 in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...

 and headed the dance department at Colorado College

Colorado College

The Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell...

 before moving to Menlo Park, California

Menlo Park, California

Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...

 in 1939 where she continued to teach dance until she was in her mid-90s. In 2007, the Wagon Wheel Council named Crowder the nation's oldest Girl Scout after it conducted a nationwide search and sifted through council archives.

She enrolled in the Perry Mansfield School of Dance and Theater in Colorado and studied with many of the leading pioneers of modern dance, including Louis Horst

Louis Horst

Louis Horst was a choreographer, composer, and pianist...

, Doris Humphrey

Doris Humphrey

Doris Batcheller Humphrey was a dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Humphrey was born in Oak Park, Illinois but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Horace Buckingham Humphrey and Julia Ellen Wells and was a descendant of pilgrim William Brewster...

, Helen Tamiris

Helen Tamiris

Helen Tamiris was an American choreographer, modern dancer, and teacher.-Biography:A founder of American Modern Dance, Tamiris originally trained in free movement at the Henry Street Settlement. She danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet and the Bracale Opera Company before studying briefly...

, Hanya Holm

Hanya Holm

Hanya Holm is known as one of the “Big Four” founders of American modern dance...

 and Daniel Nagrin

Daniel Nagrin

Daniel Nagrin was an American modern dancer, choreographer, teacher, and author. He was born in New York City.Nagrin studied with Martha Graham, Anna Sokolow, Hanya Holm, and Helen Tamiris whom he later married...

. She resigned her position to marry writer Paul Crowder and they moved to California in 1940. For 19 years she taught in Stanford University

Stanford University

The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

's Drama Department and choreographed dances for major Stanford productions for the Drama and Music Departments.

Death

She died on June 4, 2010 at her Palo Alto, California

Palo Alto, California

Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...

 home at the age of 104 from pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...

. She was survived by two daughters, ten grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.