Duron Crider
March 13, 1933 – January 30, 2023
Duron Crider, age 89, of Decatur until the last six years, passed peacefully from this earth at The Oaks Highland in Bessemer on January 30, 2023. Services will be held Saturday, February 4, at 2pm, Hanceville Funeral Home with Visitation 12N – 2pm and
with Pastor Aaron Kretzschmar of St. Paul’s Lutheran, Decatur, Alabama officiating. Duron was born in Jones Chapel, Alabama, moving to Cullman with his family as a teen.
Mr. Crider was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 65 years, Anna Lou Schmidt Crider; his parents, Lindsey and Bessie (Parris) Crider; brothers, Hoyt Crider, Hollis Crider, and Byron Crider, and sister, Audrey (Crider) Morgan.
He is survived by his daughter, Debra Annette Crider Besant (Chris), Tuscaloosa; his daughter, Julie Lyn Crider Hucks (Austin), Tunnel Hill, GA; his son, Darryl Brent Crider (Lesley), Hoover, AL; his grandchildren, Chadwick Palmer Besant (Carlie), Northport, AL,
Jordan Anna Peace Donegan (Nick), Rome, GA, Jenna Madeline Peace, Jacksonville, FL, Gavin Austin Hucks (Linsey) and Spencer Lamar Hucks, both of Tunnel Hill, GA, Trenton Haun Crider and Lindsey Elise Crider, both of Hoover, AL; and his great grandsons, Everett William Donegan and Reid Charles Donegan.
Duron Crider attended the University of Alabama before being drafted into the Army during the Korean War. Upon his honorable discharge, he and Anna returned to AL where he began work at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. While working as a Division Director of Procurement, Duron returned to school and earned his Juris Doctor degree to assist in drafting contracts on behalf of the U.S. government. After a 33-year career with NASA, he retired in 1994 to spend more time with his children and grandchildren, who lovingly called him PawPaw.
Family always came first with Duron; he and his late wife, Anna, loved having their grandchildren spend time with them either at their home or taking them on trips. Anna was the center of his happiness and joy, having met her when he was just 17 and they
spent the next 67 years together until her passing in 2018. He also enjoyed playing golf, playing in tournaments across the Southeast, and he loved to travel, driving his family cross-country on multiple occasions and annual camping trips to various national and state
parks.
Serving as pallbearers will be Chris Besant, Austin Hucks, Chad Besant, Nick Donegan, Trent Crider and Anthony Hays.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made either to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 1700 Carridale St., SW, Decatur, AL 35601, or to either the American Heart Association or the Alzheimer’s Association.
He will forever be loved and missed.
