Obituary of Chrystal Marie DiBennedetto

DiBENNEDETTO, Chrystal Marie Case, passed away on January 21, 2018 at the age of 85 from complications of pneumonia. Born in Battle Creek, Michigan December 7, 1932 she was the daughter of Clayton O. and Edna (Kesler) Case. A 1951 graduate of Hastings High School, she went on to attend professional dance schools in Chicago, IL. She danced professionally out of the Chicago area returning to Hasting in 1953 to open her own school. Over the years she studied dance in New York, California, Toronto, Hawaii and Europe. She married Russel G. Hammond in 1954. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Clayton and her second, husband, Louis J. DiBennedetto. She is survived by her children, Melinda (Bruce) Bloom and Thomas R. (Diane) Hammond; her sister-in-law, Vivian Case; four grandchildren, four great-grandchildren; a step great- granddaughter; one nephew and three nieces in Michigan; and two stepsons, Loius (Ann) DiBennedetto and Richard (Lee) DiBenedetto. Chrystal had a passion for dance and after teaching in Hastings for over 20 years, she moved to Tucson for health reasons. She opened another dance school and taught for over 25 years. Chrystal took her students to many nursing homes to put on shows for the patients. She volunteered at Life Care Nursing Home, taking her two beloved poodles, Ruby and Rosy to visit patients. Memorial contributions may be made to the Arthritis Foundation at arthritis.org. Memorial Services will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, February 12, 2018 at ADAIR FUNERAL HOME, Dodge Chapel, 1050 N. Dodge Blvd.