George Francis Crawford

George Francis Crawford, age 89, died peacefully on Nov. 29, 2011.

He was born in Frederick, Okla., on Nov. 28, 1922, to Maude and Marlin Crawford. He was the oldest of four children. He graduated from school in Bray, Okla. He joined the U.S. Army after high school and served as a medic in Germany. After he came home from Germany, he worked in the oil fields for Halliburton.

In 1950, he traveled north, building pipelines. He was working on a pipeline crew when he met his future wife, Della. They were married in Tacoma on Nov. 10, 1956. They moved to the Seattle area, after they were married, where he worked for Boeing for most of the next 12 years.

During the summer of 1963, he went to Alaska to work on building the Parks Highway in the Cantwell area. When he returned to Seattle in November, he returned to Boeing. In 1968, he quit Boeing and moved back to the Ritzville area to work for Ernie and Forrest Hardt.

Over the following years, he worked on several farms in Ritzville, Washtucna and Lind. In the late 1970s, they bought the Lucky Lane Drive In. His wife ran the restaurant during the week, while he worked the farms. He got to flip burgers on the weekends.

When they both turned 66, they retired and traveled throughout the U.S., eventually settling in Apache Junction, Ariz. He worked security at the Superstition Springs Mall in Mesa, and returned to work harvest during the summers. In the 1990s they moved back to Ritzville, to work at Jake’s Café and on the farms again.

George was preceded in death by his wife Della, his parents, and brothers, Harlin and Harley Joy Crawford.

He is survived by a daughter, Margaret Hart of Moses Lake; a granddaughter, Karma; a sister, Marlene Faust; nephews, George Faust and Dan Crawford; and niece, Jolene Suitor, all of Duncan, Okla.

A memorial service will be held Friday, Dec. 9, 2011, at 1 p.m. at Danekas Funeral Home, Ritzville.