Kathleen Crow, 75; GOP campaign strategist, deputy of Antonovich
Kathleen Crow, a Republican campaign strategist and former chief deputy of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, died Thursday of advanced respiratory disease at Villa Gardens care facility in Pasadena, her family said. She was 75.
“Politics is often brutal and ugly, but Kathleen brought a dimension to it that was both successful and dignified,” said Allen Brandstater, a political associate and longtime friend. “She was brilliant and the consummate definition of class.”
After she helped engineer Antonovich’s 1980 victory over incumbent Baxter Ward, the supervisor made Crow his deputy. She held the post for six years.
She also had managed Antonovich’s successful campaigns for the state Assembly in the 1970s and his failed run for lieutenant governor in 1978.
In a statement, Antonovich called her “a dynamic, warm and engaging woman” who “played a vital role” in his campaigns.
Only once was Crow herself a candidate: She ran for the San Marino school board in the late 1960s and served for four years.
In the 1970s, she chaired the political lobbying group California Conservative Union and staged weekend conferences with such keynote speakers as Ronald Reagan and Dan Quayle.
Before becoming Antonovich’s deputy, Crow’s consulting firm helped a series of Republicans win legislative races. She returned to political consulting after leaving the supervisor’s office.
Born in Lewiston, Idaho, Crow grew up in Long Beach.
On a blind date, she met J. Bradford Crow, and they married in 1954. The couple raised four children in San Marino before moving to Pasadena in 1993.
Her husband, who had been a partner in the Dean Witter brokerage firm, died in 2003.
Crow is survived by three sons, Bradford, Edward and Kevin; a daughter, Hilary Crow Scofield; a sister, a brother and four grandchildren.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Philip the Apostle Catholic Church, 151 S. Hill Ave., Pasadena.
Instead of flowers, the family requests contributions to the Spiritual Care Department, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd., No. 29, Los Angeles, CA 90027.
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