Obituary of Charles J. Crawford

Charles J. Crawford of Morris Plains died on January 16, 2018 after a brief illness. He was born in Manhattan, NY on November 9, 1925, the only child of Charles A. and Lillian Crawford. Mr. Crawford attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, NY and upon graduation enlisted in the Army Air Force and served as a flight officer navigator on bombers during World War II. After the war he attended Fordham University and graduated with a B.A. degree in accounting.

After graduation he married the love of his life, Vincenza Paris. They first lived in Torrington, CT and eventually moved to Roseland, NJ, Severna Park, MD; Verona, NJ and Cedar Knolls, NJ.

Mr. Crawford had a successful career at the Martin Marietta Corporation in the Cement and Lime Division where he earned numerous awards and honors.  He enjoyed his work immensely and attained the VP of Administration position. He traveled the country inspecting facilities and was instrumental in transitioning operations to computerized accounting and record keeping. In 1970, he continued his managerial education at the University of California, Berkeley at the Graduate School of Business Administration.

His friends and family knew him as Charlie and loved his great sense of humor.  Above all, Charlie loved his family and extended family. Charlie had a keen interest in his family’s genealogy and compiled an extensive Crawford family genealogy which included obtaining the original Civil War diary of his grandfather’s cousin, Sgt. Frank John Crawford.  He traveled to places where his ancestors lived in New York, Connecticut and Canada. While researching his family’s genealogy, he located additional relatives and corresponded with them for years.  Charlie also held lectures and seminars to teach others how to research their genealogy.

Charles and Vincenza traveled throughout Europe, the Netherlands, Africa and Asia with China being their favorite destination.   He developed a passion for wine making from his Italian father in law, which he passed along to his son in law who continues the tradition. Throughout his life he had a positive attitude and enjoyed being with his family and friends; he loved to make others laugh. Charlie ran track freshman year at Fordham University and began running competitively again in his fifties and entered several 5K races. Charlie had many hobbies such as gardening, cooking, stamp collecting and photography.  He loved taking photographs of his family, friends, the places he visited and left behind a substantial photo album collection. He volunteered his time to help others and drove dialysis patients to their appointments. Charlie was also a member of the Old Guard of Caldwell, NJ.

Mr. Crawford was predeceased by his wife of 64 years, Vincenza.  He is survived by his children: Charles A. Crawford and his wife, Karen, of Marietta, GA., Joseph Crawford and his wife, Carolyn, of Marco Island, FL, Carol Dunnington and her husband, Glenn, of Morris Plains, NJ and Linda Moran of Sayreville, NJ. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Timothy Crawford and his wife, Kathleen, Kristen Muldoon and her wife Alissa, Peter Crawford and his wife Jenn, Whitney Cassidy and her husband, Brandon, Collin Dunnington, Ryan Moran, Brett Moran, Justin Moran and great grandchildren Caroline Cassidy and Cash Crawford.

The family will receive friends at the Dangler Funeral Home; 600 Speedwell Avenue; Morris Plains, NJ on Sunday January 21, 2018 from 2:00 to 5:00 pm and a Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Notre Dame of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church; 75 Ridgedale Avenue; Cedar Knolls, NJ on Monday January 22, 2018 at 10:00 am.