Clara Dean Crabtree

Clara Dean Crabtree, 91, passed away 7 June 2025 at the home of her daughter in Mesquite, NV. She was born in Mesquite, NV to Horace (Doc) Sylvester and Virginia Lee. She married Willard (Bill) Alger on 1 April 1951 in Pioche, NV. They divorced 1968. She married Grady S. Crabtree, in May 2000 in Lawton, OK.

Clara was raised mostly in Mesquite but also lived in Central, St George and Virgin, Utah. She went to Dixie High School. She taught herself to play the piano and was always happiest when playing and being with her family. She loves to write songs and poetry. She was married to BIll Alger and had 6 children who were raised in Las Vegas, NV until they divorce when she and her children moved to Pioche, NV. She later moved to Elko, then Winnemucca, NV and then San Martin and Gilroy, CA where she was an Activities Director in two nursing homes. She was also taking care of her mother and father who lived with her. Later she moved them and her sister to Oklahoma City, OK to be near her brother and his family where she met and married Grady Crabtree while volunteering in the VA hospital playing the piano. They lived in Lawton and then Frederick, OK until he passed away. In 2018 she moved with her sister Hortense to Sparks, NV and then both moved to Trent Woods, NC with her daughter until March of 2024 when they moved home to Mesquite.

She is survived by 5 of her six children, Jerrilee de Geus of Mesquite, NV, David Alger of Reno, NV, Andrew Alger of Thornton, CO, Gina Jarred of San Jose, CA and Jon Lee Alger of Omaha, NE along with 17 grandchildren and numerous great grandchildren. Preceded in death by her son - Richard (Billy) Alger, her husband - Grady Crabtree, her parents -Horace Sylvester and Virginia Lee Sampson, her brothers - LaVell Sylvester and Philo Sylvester, and her sister - Hortense Struss.

Funeral services will be Friday, 27 June 2025, at 10:00 at the LDS stake Center, 100 N Arrowhead Ln, Mesquite, NV. Interment will be at the City Cemetery in Caliente, NV at 3:30 pm on the same day. We invite family and friends to leave condolences or memories at www.starmortuary.com