Emily Ann Crixell

Emily Ann Crixell, known to those closest to her as “the prettiest girl in the world” and for her huge heart, which made her the person to whom so many gravitated for love, comfort, advice or friendship, died on Friday, April 28, 2017, leaving an unfillable hole in the lives of her family and friends. Born on May 16, 1984, in Brownsville, Texas, Emily was the first of three children of Charles and Sharon Crixell. Delivered via emergency Caesarean section, she came into the world with huge brown eyes – the hallmark of her beauty – wide open and looking all around her, likely a foreshadowing of the way she would view the world in wonder the rest of her days. Emily spent the first two years of her life in Brownsville in a tight-knit family with her parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins constantly around, and she maintained the sense of the importance of family throughout her life. Her paternal grandfather, “Gramps” to his many grandchildren, composed and sang to each of them their own special song, and Emily’s went: “Emily Ann Crixell, the prettiest girl in the world Emily Ann Crixell, the prettiest girl in the world” She beamed every time it was sung to her, and as she grew into a young woman whose inner beauty matched or even surpassed what was on the outside, her immediate family believed that no truer words were ever spoken. Emily was joined by a brother, Alexander James, in 1985, before the family moved to San Antonio, where a second brother, Christopher Michael, was born. The three were inseparable as children, and Emily watched over her brothers with a natural maternal instinct that later would be in full force with her own beloved son, Julian. In 1989, the family moved to The Woodlands after Charles was hired as an editor at the Houston Chronicle, and they have lived in the north Houston suburban areas since. Emily excelled in school in The Woodlands and in numerous activities that included dance and cheerleading, and she developed a lifelong love of animals and had a string of pets on which she doted, starting with her Persian cat, Sydney, and ending with her Chihuahua, Rex. On August 20, 2004, Emily gave birth to the love of her life, Julian Hayden Alexander Crixell. Julian became Emily’s world, and she showered him with all her love from the moment he was born. Just as Emily was a ray of light to everyone she knew, Julian is the same ball of sunshine to all who know him, and her spirit shines brightly through him. Emily Ann Crixell was a daughter, sister, cousin, niece, friend and, above all, mother to Julian who is remembered by everyone she met as the type of person everyone wanted to be around, always. Even those who met her just briefly were left feeling as though they always had known her and wished they could have her in their lives always. She will forever be missed by everyone whose lives she touched. Emily is survived by her son, Julian Hayden Alexander Crixell; parents, Charles and Sharon Crixell; brothers, Alexander James and Christopher Michael Crixell; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.