Vaniece Diane Crawford was born in Wichita, KS on May 3rd, 1957, to Roy Gene Crawford Sr.
and Geraldine Pittman Crawford. The middle child of three and the only daughter, Vaniece
attended Ingalls Elementary School. She was part of the first integrated class in Wichita,
attending Mayberry Middle School, and she graduated from West High School in the class of
1975. Vaniece was a businesswoman, opening a successful early childhood development center
that she operated for five years. She also owned a popular record store during the 70s and 80s.
Vaniece proudly worked for Cessna Aircraft as a sheet metal mechanic and a nurse's aide.
During the 1990s and 2000s, Vaniece worked for Wichita Public Schools as a lunch lady at
Southeast High School and as a Kitchen Supervisor at Spaght Elementary school, she also drove
for Durham School Services as a bus driver for ten years. Passionate about finishing her
education, Vaniece attended Wichita State University and graduated in the class of 2013 with a
bachelor's degree in general studies. Vaniece later returned as a school bus driver with First
Student Transport where she worked from 2015 to 2021. She was also a lifelong social activist,
working with Sunflower Community Action on reforming the Foster Care and Family
Reunification System, as well as working with grassroots organizations on "busting up big
banks" after the 2008 recession. She later spent eleven years caring for her older brother as his
caregiver. Vaniece will be remembered as a devoted mother to her four daughters, a super
nana, a professional PTA mom, a devout woman of unbreakable faith in Christ, a social activist,
and as Sister Vaniece: a woman who loved to give love to others. She is preceded in death by
her father Roy Gene Crawford Sr., her mother Geraldine Pittman Crawford, her youngest
brother Vincent Hardy Crawford, her daughter Summer Nicole Jackson, her Granddaughter
Andrea Reed, her cousin Dr. America Elizabeth Nelson, and her Aunt Lillie Belle-Crawford Freeman.

She is survived by her eldest brother, Roy Gene Crawford Jr., her daughters: Melissa
L. Jackson, Christina Dickens, & Lily Jackson, her grandsons: Damien Earl Jones Jr., Jonathan C.
Womack, Joshua C. Womack, Jonah C. Womack, & Ameer Bell, Her son-in-law: Antonio "Tony"
Buchanan, her granddaughter-in-law Alanee Harlan, her great-grandsons: Damien Earl Jones III
and Gibran "Tre" Rounds III, her nieces: Dr. Eboney Crawford-Jackson and Taleeda Crawford Johnson, her great-nephew: Richard Jene Jackson, her first cousins: Carnell Harris, Janett Threatt, and Stephanie Acuff as well as a host of other cousins, and extended family members.