John Frederick Crawford, 85, of Westminster, Md., died Saturday, March 31, 2007 at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, Md.

He was born Oct. 17, 1921 in Wheatland, Pa., the son of the late Robert Eugene and Mabel Hoffman Crawford.

On June 25, 1949 he married the former Lois May Hageman, his wife of 57 1/2 years.

He is also survived by a daughter Pamela (William) Collier of Centreville, Va.; sons John (Jo Anne) Crawford of Frederick, Craig (Kathryn) Crawford of Myersville; brother, David (Jean) Crawford of Carlsbad, Calif.; grandsons, William and John Collier; granddaughters, Cara, Alayna, Lauren and Leslie Crawford, and 14 nieces and nephews.

He was predeceased by sisters Betty Jane Hughey, Eugenia Kathleen “Jean” Langdon, Margaret Francis Andershock and brother Robert E. Crawford, Jr.

He graduated from Sharon High School in Pa. in 1940. After graduation, he moved to Chesterton, Ind. and worked for the U.S. Steel Corporation until WWII.

After enlisting in the Army Air Corps, he was assigned to the 7th Airborne Squadron and served 2 1¦2 years in the Southwest Pacific on Guadalcanal, New Guinea and the Philippines as a Radar Technician. Upon returning to the States, he enrolled at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Ind. under the G. I. Bill of Rights and graduated in 1949 with a B.A. Degree in Business Administration.

He worked as a Banker in the Chesterton area for 15 years. In 1964 the family moved to New Holland, Pa., where he worked as a Business Manager for the Penn/Jersey Harvestore Company. In 1967, they moved to Westminster where he worked as a buyer for the Baltimore County Schools. While working, he attended night school at the George Washington University and Western Maryland College to attain a Masters Degree Equivalency.

In 1984 he retired and was elected Secretary Treasurer of the 7th Airdrome Squadron and wrote a monthly newsletter for the outfit and was in charge of their annual reunions.

He was a member of Grace Lutheran Church.

Funeral services, Rev. Ira Zepp officiating, will be at 1 p.m. Thursday, April 5 at the Pritts Funeral Home and Chapel, 412 Washington Rd., Westminster, Md. Interment will be in Pipe Creek Cemetery, Linwood, Md.

The family will receive friends two hours prior to the Service on Thursday at the Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be made in his memory to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, P.O. Box 96305, Washington, D.C. 20090-6305

Posted 4/3/2008