Helen Martha Crossley, 95, of Princeton, N.J., passed away peacefully on September 25, 2016.
Exceptionally bright and intellectually curious, Helen devoted her life to developing and improving techniques in public opinion research. She was a founding member of both the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR), and served as WAPOR’s first female president from 1960-62. Through a philanthropic gift in 2012, she established the Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies.
In tribute, the late George Gallup Jr. said of her: “Helen has always retained a fascination with research methodology, and also with the potential of survey research to make new discoveries about humankind, and to bring about positive change in societies around the world.”
Helen was born in Germantown, Pa., on September 8, 1921, the daughter of pioneer pollster Archibald M. Crossley and Dorothy Fox Crossley. The family moved to Princeton in 1923, and spent summers in Woods Hole, Mass., where Helen developed her lifelong love of sailing and swimming.
In 1938, Helen graduated from Miss Fine’s School (now Princeton Day School). She then attended Radcliffe College, her mother’s alma mater, graduating in 1942. Immediately following, Helen went to Washington, D.C., to work for government during World War II. She earned a master’s degree in 1948 from the University of Denver’s Opinion Research Center.
In the early 1950s, Helen worked in Germany for the Armed Forces Information and Education Division, ending as chief of its research branch. In 1955 she began her long association with the U.S. Information Agency (USIA), establishing coordinated research surveys in many countries of Europe, Asia and Latin America.
Following a two-year assignment in South Korea from 1960-62, Helen became a freelance consultant, serving academic, commercial and government clients. In 1979 she returned to USIA, retiring in 1992 with the Agency’s Career Achievement Award.
Extraordinarily thoughtful and generous, Helen had an impact on individuals and institutions that will live on after her death. In addition to her gift establishing the Crossley Center, she was a major benefactor in the restoration of historic White Hill Mansion in Fieldsboro, N.J., her father’s birthplace.
Helen is survived by her sister, Dorothy I. Crossley; Nancy Crossley, the widow of her late brother Joseph; nephews Peter Crossley and Lawrence Crossley and their families; the family of her late nephew Robert Crossley Sr.; cousins Kevin Birch, Wendy Ketchum, Carolyn Mulliken, and Sara Piccini; and her devoted caregiver, Sandra Mingo.
A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 1, in Princeton Cemetery, with a memorial service in Princeton to follow at a later date. A service will also be held at the Church of the Messiah in Woods Hole at 3 p.m. on Saturday, October 15.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Friends of White Hill Mansion, c/o Fieldsboro Clerk, 204 Washington St., Fieldsboro, NJ 08505.
Arrangements are under the direction of The Mather-Hodge Funeral Home, Princeton, NJ.
