Obituary of Henrietta Croom

Henrietta Brown Croom, age 83, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina passed away on February 23, 2024. She was born on September 23, 1940 to Grady Anderson Brown and Emma Mabel Cheek Brown. She was raised in Hillsborough, North Carolina and graduated from Hillsborough High School. 

Henrietta retired as Professor of Biology emerita from Sewanee-The University of the South in 2008 after 36 years of service. She taught cell biology, biochemistry, and molecular evolution, directed student research, and served aschair of the Biology Department and co-chair of the Biochemistry major. She also chaired the Pre-Medical Advisory Committee, providing support to hundreds of students and shepherding generations of future physicians through the medical school application process. From 2004 to 2012, Henrietta was also a research affiliate with the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she conducted molecular phylogenetic analysis of endemic Hawaiian lava tube crickets. She held visiting professorships at Louisiana State University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Kentucky, and the University of Hawaii-Manoa and was awarded several National Science Foundation grants. Her publications included scholarly articles on the biochemistry of microtubules, proteins involved with regeneration of flagella in Chlamydomonas (alga), molecular evolution of parasitic angiosperms, and the evolution of tetragnathid spiders and of lava tube crickets in Hawaii. She is recognized in Who's Who in America and actively participated in the Society for the Study of Evolutionand American Society for Cell Biology. She volunteered as a Girl Scout Troop Leader, District Commissioner of the U.S. Pony Club, and docent and curator of the Orange County (NC) Historical Museum, as well as in various capacities with Otey Parish (Sewanee, TN) and Chapel of the Cross (Chapel Hill, NC). 

Henrietta earned her Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she was inducted into several honor societies, including Order of the Old Well, Order of Valkyries, Phi Beta Kappa, Alpha Epsilon Delta, and Sigma Xi. She also served in UNC’s student legislature and the student body president's cabinet. Before transferring to UNC, she attended Meredith College for two years, where she received the Freshman Mathematics Award and Sophomore Kappa Nu Sigma award for scholarship and served as a Freshman Counselor.

​Henrietta was preceded in death by her brothers Bobby Joe Brown, Roy Ray Brown, and Harry Elton Brown;former husband Frederick Hailey Croom; brother-in-law Robert DeVane Croom, III and his wife Patricia Stroud Croom;and niece Lou Rochelle Brown Webster.

​She is survived by her son Frederick Hailey Croom, Jr. and daughter Elizabeth Bonner Croom (David Zachman); special friend Harry Edward Miller; brother-in law John McLean Croom (Larissa Boudnikova); nieces Lisa Jane Brown, Mabel Lyn Brown, Patricia “Trish” Croom Halsey (Jason), and Maria “Masha” Johnovna Croom; nephews Richard Anderson Brown, Harry Elton “Chip” Brown, II (Anne), and Robert DeVane Croom, IV (Susan); and several grand and great-grand nieces and nephews.

​A funeral will be held on Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Hillsborough, NC. Her burial will follow at the Hillsborough Town Cemetery. A memorial service will be held this summer at Sewanee-The University of the South. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests considering a donation to the Henrietta Brown Croom Science Endowment, c/o Office of University Advancement, 735 University Ave., Sewanee, TN 37383.