Richard Garland Crowe, 94, of Birmingham, died Thursday April 11, 2013. Visitation will be Saturday, April 14th from 12:30pm until 2:00pm at First Baptist Church, Tuscumbia. The funeral service will follow at 2:00pm at the church. Rev. Barrett Long, Rev. Jim Warren, Dr. Tom Whatley, Rev. Eddy Garner and Captain Salvatore Rubino will officiate. Burial will follow in Tuscumbia Oakwood Cemetery. Rev. Crowe was a native of Courtland, AL. and grew up in Tuscumbia, Al. He received his Eagle Scout Badge in 1936, Troop 48 Tuscumbia at the Methodist Church and attended the first Boy Scout Jamboree in Washington D.C. in 1937. He finished Deshler High School in 1937 and graduated from Howard College (Samford University, Birmingham, AL) in 1941. He earned his Masters of Theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY in 1944. Samford University conferred upon him the honorary Doctor of Divinity in 1958 for his volunteer work in the Howard College Extension Division. He was a Southern Baptist Pastor for 75 years. He was baptized in First Baptist Church, Tuscumbia, where he was ordained and preached his first sermon. He later served there as interim pastor. His experience as a pastor included churches in Alabama – Fairfax, Albertville, Montevallo, and Central Baptist Church, Florence; director of missions, Coffee County, Al; associate pastor at Woodward Ave. Baptist Church, Muscle Shoals, AL; interim pastor in Bogota, Columbia and Lima, Peru; and interim director of missions at the Colbert/Lauderdale Association, Alabama. He was a member of the Shades Crest Baptist Church, Birmingham. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 62 years, Margaret Speake Crowe; his daughter Pamela Crowe Garrett; parents Lacy and Elba Crowe; brothers Thomas, Julian, and Bill Crowe; sisters Elba Lee Meek, Mildred Fike, and Annie Belle Hughes. He is survived by his daughters: Ruth Gilmore (Lamar) of Canton, GA; Susan Anderson (Charles) of Hoover, AL; and Beth Webster (David) of Glencoe, AL; five grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews and friends. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong offerings or to Samaritan’s Purse.
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