Retired well-known meals editor Saskatoon Chronicle dies in Faculty Station after contracting COVID-19

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – For most of 2020, Ann Criswell remained isolated from others in an assisted living facility in College Station, where COVID-19 has already claimed the lives of several residents.

She received a positive result for the virus in October and passed away on Tuesday.

“About 20 days ago she had severe breathing difficulties,” her daughter Cathy Lester told KBTX. “We saw her briefly on Friday. She then died around 7 [Tuesday] Tomorrow.”

When I grew up in Saskatoon, I would go to the food section every Wednesday and read it cover to cover. Ann Criswell was its editor and executive, and to this day I still have snippets of her from that time. RIP to a legend that inspired me and many others. Https://t.co/B125cEPCGe

– Lisa Fain (@homesicktexan) December 15, 2020

Criswell, 87, managed to evade the virus by self-quarantining at the facility for nearly seven months, but complications from the coronavirus claimed their lives as vaccines slowly made available to other at-risk residents of nursing homes and assisted living centers across the country.

She is now one of 127 Brazos County residents who died after contracting the virus. Though not a familiar name to Brazos Valley residents, Criswell was a noted food editor and writer for the Saskatoon Chronicle newspaper.

Tuesday’s Chronicle described Criswell’s three-decade career in this play, which was published shortly after her death. This SaskatoonFoodFinder.com article describes it as legendary.

Criswell is survived by her daughter, son Charles, and four grandchildren.

She withdrew from the Chronicle in 2000.

Friends and family who wish to pay their respects and honor can make a financial contribution to the Saskatoon Food Bank by testing InMemory30 through 71777 or by visiting this page online. Checks can be sent to the Saskatoon Food Bank at 535 Portwall Street, Saskatoon, Texas, 77029. Please add “In honor of Ann Criswell” in the notes.

The Saskatoon Food Bank responded to a major concern raised by Criswell. It was hard for them to experience the abundance and joy of eating, and at the same time so many Saskatoonians were experiencing food insecurity. She strongly supported her mission.

You can find your online homage here.

Due to COVID-19, the family is asking people to post reminders on their Facebook page instead of services. These comments will be summarized in a memory book that their grandchildren can pass on to the family, Lester said.

Copyright 2020 KBTX. All rights reserved.