Malcolm Decker Crawford
Funeral Service for Malcolm Crawford will be 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at First Presbyterian Church with Pastor Susan Reichenberg officiating. Visitation will be held 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday, December 28, 2015 at Gillette Memorial Chapel.
Malcolm Decker Crawford passed away on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 at Pioneer Manor from natural causes. Malcolm was born in Port Chester, NY on November 3, 1927 to Ralph and Elizabeth (King) Crawford.
He served in WWII (Pacific Theatre) and Korean Conflict (Recalled) Medical Corpsman in the US Navy and Marine Corp. He attended the University of Connecticut receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture and the University of North Carolina receiving a Master of Science Degree in Public Health. He was commissioned as a US Public Health Service Reserve Officer in 1959.
He married Patricia Mae Johnson on November 25, 1954 and from this union 2 children were born; Mary Elizabeth Crawford and James Thomas Crawford. Patricia and Malcolm were later divorced.
Malcolm spent 35 years in various phases of Public Health Administration. During this time he spent 5 years in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia working for Aramco as a District Supervisor of Preventative Health. He returned to the United States in 1966 moving to Wyoming and worked 10 years for the Wyoming Division of Health and Medical Services as the District Sanitarian.
On October 12, 1968, Malcolm married Evelyn Mae (Edwards) Shane in Sheridan, WY. Evelyn brought 4 children to this marriage; Jerry, Vickie, William and Loretta to whom he was a wonderful stepfather.
In 1977 he began working as the Campbell County Health Sanitarian working there for 3 years. In 1980 he became owner of Sanitarian Services where he was a private health sanitarian for 8 years. He returned to the WY State Health Department in 1988 where he was a Health Compliance Officer before retiring in April 1993.
After retirement he began his passion of Volunteering. He delivered Meals on Wheels, served on the Council of Community Serviced Board, was involved with the Marna Kuehne Foundation Advisory Board in Gillette, WY and was a member of Gideon's International. One of the things he was best known for was his "bread run" where he collected food from various grocery stores and restaurants and delivered it to the Council of Community Services, the Soup Kitchen, YES House, GARF, a preschool and other places as needed. He would say he was "just doing God's work". For his volunteerism he received various awards: the Quiet Disciple Award from United Methodist Church, Volunteer of the Year from the Council of Community Services, Ten Who Made a Difference from the Gillette News Record and Humanitarian of the Year from the Campbell County Chamber of Commerce. In the more recent years he was known as the "Cookie Man" or the "Brownie Man" where he would offer a joke and some brownies/ cookies to people around town just to give a person their "smile for the day". In February 2014 he moved into the Pioneer Manor where he enjoyed handing out Kit Kats and Hershey bars to the staff and residents. He was a fine man and wonderful husband, father and grandfather and will be truly missed.
He is preceded in death by his father in 1970, his mother in 1984, his wife Evelyn in 2008, his sister Janet Scott in 2012 and his grandson Shane Crawford in 2013.
He is survived by his daughter; Mary Beth Crawford of Casper, WY, his son; Jim Crawford (Michelle) of Kansas, OK, stepsons; Jerry Shane (Sharon) of Buffalo, WY, and Bill Shane of Gillette, WY, and stepdaughters; Vickie Ferderer of Sundance, WY and Loretta Hardy of Gillette, WY, 6 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.
The family requests that memorials be made in Malcolm's name to Campbell County Hospice or to the Council of Community Services. Memorials and condolences may also be sent in care of Gillette Memorial Chapel 210 West 5th Street, Gillette, WY 82716.