'She cared for everyone': Family pays tribute to Susan Crews

But her family got a glimpse at just how many lives the 50-year-old Belmont woman had touched this week when about 800 people had Swansea Baptist Church overflowing with those who wanted to say farewell to the well-known grandmother.

Ms Crews died in a head-on crash on the Pacific Highway at Belmont North on May 13 as she was on her way to work.

The woman many knew as Suzie was a social worker and spent countless hours volunteering for causes that had impacts locally and internationally.

Ms Crews' daughter Jade and sister Catherine paid tribute to her on behalf of their family this week.

"It would only take someone to meet her once or twice and they were good friends after that," Jade said.

"She'd only have to meet them a couple of times and they would feel close to her because she cared for everyone."

Catherine said her sister had strong values and faith was central in her life. She described her as the "golden child".

"She was very aware of the suffering of others, really - a bit more than most people. She not only was aware of it, she tried to do things to ease it," she said.

"She would notice the person no-one was talking to and she'd make sure she'd go over and have a chat.

"Her soul ached to help and she got to do that as a job. She sounds like an angel - she wasn't, but she was pretty close."

Ms Crews was born at Lake Macquarie to Peggy and Malcolm Gilson and grew up with three older brothers and sisters - Catherine, Donald and Beth.

As a young adult, she started a family of her own with her first husband Glen Buckley and their kids Jade, Chad and Jessica soon arrived.

But when Mr Buckley died suddenly while the children were young, Ms Crews enrolled at the University of Newcastle to train as a social worker - a career she continued until her final day.

She later married Bob Crews, who became stepfather to her children.

Catherine described her sister as the glue that held three families together and made them one.

Jade believed her mum considered becoming a grandmother to be her greatest achievement.

Jade's toddler Audrey was recently joined by a second grandchild - Chad's baby Bowie - who arrived two weeks early, six days before Ms Crews died.

"I think that was her greatest joy - she loved being a nan," Jade said.

Ms Crews was a director of Ratanak International Australia - an organisation that works to free young people from slavery - and travelled to Cambodia with the group in 2017.

She was also an active member of her church community, being heavily involved in programs that provided meals to local people doing it tough, and focused her efforts on a range of causes including fundraising to support women escaping violence, building wells in Africa, supporting medical and cancer awareness and providing support for drought-stricken farmers.

In a post on Ratanak's Facebook page, the organisation said it was "deeply mourning the loss of an integral and much loved board member" who would be dearly missed.

The loss is also being felt in the health community - Ms Crews was a social worker in the region for about two decades.

Her family expected a crowd of 300 to 400 at Tuesday's funeral, but they didn't anticipate the 800 who showed up.

"I knew that everyone loved her that knew her," Jade said.

"But seeing that many people, what blew us away was how many people she'd made a difference to."

You can donate to Ratanak International Australia online.

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