ROBERT S. CRAWFORD, 87
At dawn on D-Day, 1944, Lt. j.g. Robert Crawford led his company of the Second Naval Beach Battalion ashore in the first wave assaulting Utah Beach. At the close of that terrible day, he secured his men and dug a foxhole in the sand, pulled a tank landing cover over his head, and read a book by flashlight.
As a beachmaster who moved and coordinated men and material, he had already landed in North Africa and Sicily. From Normandy, he would transfer to the Pacific theatre and take part in nearly every major assault from the sea. He saw the American flag raised over Iwo Jima, landed in the Philippines with MacArthur, and watched from an adjoining ship as the Emperor of Japan signed the armistice agreement. His many decorations include the Silver Star and the Croix de Guerre of Belgium for heroism on D-Day, as well as numerous citations and theatre medals. He left the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
During the war, he married New York stage and television actress Charita Bauer. Although the marriage ended in divorce, they remained friends until her death. After the war, he returned to his native Akron and joined his father's firm, Crawford Letter Service, building it into a direct mail advertising and printing house, the Crawford Company. In 1950 he married fellow Akronite Frances Stewart, a widely known musician and artist, who died in 1986. In 1988, he married Frances M. Herberich, who survives.
A 1937 graduate of Oberlin College, he gave back to his community all his life. He served on the board of the Cleveland Institute of Music, was a charter subscriber to Blossom Music Center, and raised money for Ohio Ballet, the Akron Symphony and the Tuesday Musical Club among others. He was active for many years with Bluecoats and chaired an Akron United Way campaign. A leader in the Mail Advertising Association, he received the Akron Advertising Club's Silver Medal Award.
In addition to his civic activities, he worked full time into his mid-seventies. He was an avid golfer and member of Fairlawn Country Club. Bob was known for his sunny temperament, his Christmas poems which comprised the text of his annual holiday card, and for his wonderful handwritten notes of affection and encouragement to friends, family and strangers -- who often became friends soon after.
In addition to his widow, sons, Michael (Lucy) of New York City and David of Akron; stepdaughters, Lynne (William) Woodman of Cleveland and Carol Ruckel of Denver; grandchildren, Alexander, Patrick, Christopher, and Melissa Crawford; stepgrandsons, David and Geoff Ruckel, and a host of friends survive him.
(Akron Beacon-Journal, 28 Mar 2002, p. D8)
At dawn on D-Day, 1944, Lt. j.g. Robert Crawford led his company of the Second Naval Beach Battalion ashore in the first wave assaulting Utah Beach. At the close of that terrible day, he secured his men and dug a foxhole in the sand, pulled a tank landing cover over his head, and read a book by flashlight.
As a beachmaster who moved and coordinated men and material, he had already landed in North Africa and Sicily. From Normandy, he would transfer to the Pacific theatre and take part in nearly every major assault from the sea. He saw the American flag raised over Iwo Jima, landed in the Philippines with MacArthur, and watched from an adjoining ship as the Emperor of Japan signed the armistice agreement. His many decorations include the Silver Star and the Croix de Guerre of Belgium for heroism on D-Day, as well as numerous citations and theatre medals. He left the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
During the war, he married New York stage and television actress Charita Bauer. Although the marriage ended in divorce, they remained friends until her death. After the war, he returned to his native Akron and joined his father's firm, Crawford Letter Service, building it into a direct mail advertising and printing house, the Crawford Company. In 1950 he married fellow Akronite Frances Stewart, a widely known musician and artist, who died in 1986. In 1988, he married Frances M. Herberich, who survives.
A 1937 graduate of Oberlin College, he gave back to his community all his life. He served on the board of the Cleveland Institute of Music, was a charter subscriber to Blossom Music Center, and raised money for Ohio Ballet, the Akron Symphony and the Tuesday Musical Club among others. He was active for many years with Bluecoats and chaired an Akron United Way campaign. A leader in the Mail Advertising Association, he received the Akron Advertising Club's Silver Medal Award.
In addition to his civic activities, he worked full time into his mid-seventies. He was an avid golfer and member of Fairlawn Country Club. Bob was known for his sunny temperament, his Christmas poems which comprised the text of his annual holiday card, and for his wonderful handwritten notes of affection and encouragement to friends, family and strangers -- who often became friends soon after.
In addition to his widow, sons, Michael (Lucy) of New York City and David of Akron; stepdaughters, Lynne (William) Woodman of Cleveland and Carol Ruckel of Denver; grandchildren, Alexander, Patrick, Christopher, and Melissa Crawford; stepgrandsons, David and Geoff Ruckel, and a host of friends survive him.
(Akron Beacon-Journal, 28 Mar 2002, p. D8)
ROBERT S. CRAWFORD, 87
At dawn on D-Day, 1944, Lt. j.g. Robert Crawford led his company of the Second Naval Beach Battalion ashore in the first wave assaulting Utah Beach. At the close of that terrible day, he secured his men and dug a foxhole in the sand, pulled a tank landing cover over his head, and read a book by flashlight.
As a beachmaster who moved and coordinated men and material, he had already landed in North Africa and Sicily. From Normandy, he would transfer to the Pacific theatre and take part in nearly every major assault from the sea. He saw the American flag raised over Iwo Jima, landed in the Philippines with MacArthur, and watched from an adjoining ship as the Emperor of Japan signed the armistice agreement. His many decorations include the Silver Star and the Croix de Guerre of Belgium for heroism on D-Day, as well as numerous citations and theatre medals. He left the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
During the war, he married New York stage and television actress Charita Bauer. Although the marriage ended in divorce, they remained friends until her death. After the war, he returned to his native Akron and joined his father's firm, Crawford Letter Service, building it into a direct mail advertising and printing house, the Crawford Company. In 1950 he married fellow Akronite Frances Stewart, a widely known musician and artist, who died in 1986. In 1988, he married Frances M. Herberich, who survives.
A 1937 graduate of Oberlin College, he gave back to his community all his life. He served on the board of the Cleveland Institute of Music, was a charter subscriber to Blossom Music Center, and raised money for Ohio Ballet, the Akron Symphony and the Tuesday Musical Club among others. He was active for many years with Bluecoats and chaired an Akron United Way campaign. A leader in the Mail Advertising Association, he received the Akron Advertising Club's Silver Medal Award.
In addition to his civic activities, he worked full time into his mid-seventies. He was an avid golfer and member of Fairlawn Country Club. Bob was known for his sunny temperament, his Christmas poems which comprised the text of his annual holiday card, and for his wonderful handwritten notes of affection and encouragement to friends, family and strangers -- who often became friends soon after.
In addition to his widow, sons, Michael (Lucy) of New York City and David of Akron; stepdaughters, Lynne (William) Woodman of Cleveland and Carol Ruckel of Denver; grandchildren, Alexander, Patrick, Christopher, and Melissa Crawford; stepgrandsons, David and Geoff Ruckel, and a host of friends survive him.
(Akron Beacon-Journal, 28 Mar 2002, p. D8)
At dawn on D-Day, 1944, Lt. j.g. Robert Crawford led his company of the Second Naval Beach Battalion ashore in the first wave assaulting Utah Beach. At the close of that terrible day, he secured his men and dug a foxhole in the sand, pulled a tank landing cover over his head, and read a book by flashlight.
As a beachmaster who moved and coordinated men and material, he had already landed in North Africa and Sicily. From Normandy, he would transfer to the Pacific theatre and take part in nearly every major assault from the sea. He saw the American flag raised over Iwo Jima, landed in the Philippines with MacArthur, and watched from an adjoining ship as the Emperor of Japan signed the armistice agreement. His many decorations include the Silver Star and the Croix de Guerre of Belgium for heroism on D-Day, as well as numerous citations and theatre medals. He left the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
During the war, he married New York stage and television actress Charita Bauer. Although the marriage ended in divorce, they remained friends until her death. After the war, he returned to his native Akron and joined his father's firm, Crawford Letter Service, building it into a direct mail advertising and printing house, the Crawford Company. In 1950 he married fellow Akronite Frances Stewart, a widely known musician and artist, who died in 1986. In 1988, he married Frances M. Herberich, who survives.
A 1937 graduate of Oberlin College, he gave back to his community all his life. He served on the board of the Cleveland Institute of Music, was a charter subscriber to Blossom Music Center, and raised money for Ohio Ballet, the Akron Symphony and the Tuesday Musical Club among others. He was active for many years with Bluecoats and chaired an Akron United Way campaign. A leader in the Mail Advertising Association, he received the Akron Advertising Club's Silver Medal Award.
In addition to his civic activities, he worked full time into his mid-seventies. He was an avid golfer and member of Fairlawn Country Club. Bob was known for his sunny temperament, his Christmas poems which comprised the text of his annual holiday card, and for his wonderful handwritten notes of affection and encouragement to friends, family and strangers -- who often became friends soon after.
In addition to his widow, sons, Michael (Lucy) of New York City and David of Akron; stepdaughters, Lynne (William) Woodman of Cleveland and Carol Ruckel of Denver; grandchildren, Alexander, Patrick, Christopher, and Melissa Crawford; stepgrandsons, David and Geoff Ruckel, and a host of friends survive him.
(Akron Beacon-Journal, 28 Mar 2002, p. D8)
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