Joe R. Crawford, a cattleman and long-time director in the federal farm credit bank system known for his welcoming nature and steadfast character, died Friday, June 23, surrounded by his family. He was 85.
Mr. Crawford grew up in rural Morgan County, where he learned the values of hard work, keeping your word and treating people right. A graduate of the University of Alabama, he and his beautiful bride settled in Cocoa Beach, Florida, where he worked as an engineer for NASA at the height of the space race. But when his father died suddenly in 1968, Crawford, then 30 and the oldest of five children, left that career behind and moved his young family back home to the farm where he had grown up.
Over the next several decades, Crawford built a successful cow-calf operation. He was named Outstanding Young Farmer and president of the Alabama Cattleman’s Association before serving over a decade as a director of the Farm Credit Bank of Texas and then the federal Farm Credit Funding Corporation.
For his “significant contributions to agriculture,” Crawford was inducted into the bank’s Academy of Honor in 2016. The bank said of him: “Joe never stopped looking for new strategies, great stories and different points of view. He used his customary humor and soft touch to diffuse difficult situations, while willingly challenging traditions when necessary – qualities that made him a key player in several progressive steps to modernize the bank.” A lifelong Alabama fan, Crawford designated the scholarship the bank established in his name to his alma mater.
People who have known him longest describe his positivity, ready smile, quick wit and generosity of spirit. He loved to talk to everyone he met, anywhere he went, and he believed if he asked enough questions, he could find common ground with anyone (although his son did tell him the New York City subway might not be the best place for that). He worked hard at staying positive and seeking out the best in everyone, and it showed.
He is survived by his loving wife of sixty years, Carolyn Page of Ocean Springs, MS, whose beauty and charm never failed to amaze him, their children Jan Crawford (Doug Greenburg) of Washington, DC, and Ron Crawford (Helen) of Atlanta, GA, and six grandchildren.
Indeed, for all his many accomplishments, his greatest success in life was as granddaddy and “Yay-yo” to Carolyn, Louisa, Jack and Page Greenburg, and Joe and Nora Crawford. He taught them how to drive tractors and his yellow jeep, how to shoot a gun and a jump shot, and that when you go check the cows, it’s good to sometimes stop and pick blackberries and wildflowers in the pasture to take home to Nana. He taught them more about living life than their own parents ever could have done, and he was loved by them fiercely and devotedly.
He is preceded in death by his younger brother Michael and parents Clyde Crawford and Annie Hawk McKee, and he leaves behind his brother and neighbor Bob (Judy), sister Betsy Duncan (Bob) of Eustis, FL, and brother Tony of Dallas, TX.
If there is anything he would want done in his honor, it would be for you to “keep your chin up,” get up early and visit the most down-to-earth coffee shop you can find, and make a new friend or reach out to an old one.
Services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Peck Funeral Home in Hartselle, with visitation from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Burial will be in Arab City Cemetery.
