Mary Katherine Crawford

Mary Katherine Crawford was born July 27, 1938, to Mary Shannon and Lewis Dewitt “Ox” Crawford. As the firstborn child and grandchild, she was doted on by grandmother Kate Alice Lott Shannon and grandparents, Minnie Lee McGregor and Robert Dewitt Crawford. Her twin uncles, David and Herbert Crawford were 15 years old when she was born and they treated her like a great play toy and she loved it!

Mary K. had a wonderful, loving and interesting childhood. Since her mother worked at fulltime jobs, Mary K. spent the majority of her childhood with her grandparents, Robert Dewitt and Minnie Lee Crawford (Grandma and Grandpa). Her grandmother taught her to cook, sew, wash and iron clothes and many other useful skills. Her grandmother had many animals, so early on Mary K. had a great love for animals. Her grandmother was her confidant all through her life and when she died it left a great void in Mary K.’s life. Mary K.’s grandfather, R. D., made candy for a living; peppermint sticks, peanut patties, coconut bars and sticks and at Christmas - wavy, multi-colored ribbon candy. He would prop boxes of candy on the front seat of his car and Mary K. would sit there and go with him on his candy route to towns in the surrounding area. When she was older she worked summers in the candy shop wrapping peppermint sticks in cellophane. R. D. also had a corner grocery store in Millican, Texas where Mary K. spent many happy hours.

Mary K. married F. Pat Craddock, Sr., at a very young age and their first child, Pat, Jr., was a year old when she graduated from high school at the age of 17. Pat and Mary K. went on to have three other children, Kathy, Laura and Shannon. Mary K. was a stay at home mom and was involved in all aspects of her kid’s lives. She was a Blue Bird and Campfire Girls leader, a Cub Scout leader, a Band Booster mother, Sunday school teacher and room mother for all four kids’ classes all through school. Mary K. believed all children should have animals to love and care for so her children had cats, dogs, rabbits, hamsters, guinea pigs, and gerbils. She built special houses for all of them.

Mary K.’s kids all worked from a young age. Pat, Jr., had a paper route when he was 6 years old, passing it to his sisters Kathy and Laura when he got too old and they in turn passed it to Shannon when he was old enough. Pat bought a car (before he even had a driver’s license) and worked on it and sold it and doubled his money before the driver’s license became a reality. Shannon was dismantling lawn mowers when he was two years old (this gave Mary K. time to work in her flower beds!). Kathy and Laura helped with housework and cooking and did babysitting jobs to earn money. Laura started working at R. A. Patout, CPA when she was a freshman in high school. Pat and Gary Fuqua painted houses one summer when they were just in the 8th grade. Pat also started working at Eddie Eppler’s filling station at an early age. Shannon started working at the Texas Renaissance Festival when he was just fifteen and at KWBC as a DJ. All kids had chores to do before they could go out and play on weekends. Chores were listed on a bulletin board in the kitchen with checks put in when chores were done. As Mary K.’s children became adults they also became her closest friends. Under any and all circumstances they were there for her when she needed them.

When she was 42 years old, Pat, Jr., and his wife Carolyn gave Mary K. a load of lumber to build her house. She had drawn plans of how she wanted her house and Pat, Jr., blueprinted them. She and Pat, Jr. started on the house, with other kids pitching in from time to time. Her long-time friend Curtis Morrisette helped Mary K. and Pat, Jr. on the house when he was in Texas. The house was small, but extremely cozy and had a screen room at the back with an elevated platform to sleep on in the hot summer months. The house was heated with wood and the upstairs stayed extremely warm because of 14 feet of stovepipe running across the downstairs. Mary K.’s house was on an isolated piece of land on the outskirts of Navasota. She had no electricity (using her grandmother’s kerosene lamps and a small solar panel instead) for 25 years and water from a gravity-fed system. She ended up with 12 rescue cats (she had all of them fixed!), two dogs, a horse, a peacock and a flock of chickens! This was back in the days of no Advantage for cats or dogs, so each month she listed all cats on a clipboard and checked them off as she dipped them and the dogs in a bath to keep fleas off! (Boy what fun!)

When six grandchildren came along they became part of Mary K.’s life, on a much less structured basis than her own children’s lives. When they were little more than toddlers, Mary K. would pick up all grandchildren on Friday when she got off work and take them back home late Sunday evenings. Since there was no electricity there was a basket in the hall with flashlights with each child’s name. They spent many hours roaming through the woods, swimming in the creek, roasting food on campfires and also chores such as raking leaves. There was a five gallon bucket in the barn and each grandchild had their own machete (there were lessons on how to safely use the machetes!). “Granny” was in a little trouble when parents discovered this some years later!

Mary K. and her sister Jo and brother Bob were all avid readers. All their adult life she and her sister shared many books they had read. After Mary K.’s COPD worsened, her siblings and her children became her “errand runners”, drivers, and eventually, caregivers to enable her to continue to live in her own home in the country.

Mary K. leaves behind to cherish her memory her beloved children: sons and daughters-in-law F. Pat, Jr., and wife Carolyn Sue Canatella Craddock, Shannon Patrick and Julie Nicole Albert Craddock; daughters and sons-in-laws Katherine and Raymond Victor Drews and Mary Laura and Henry Zaragoza; her beloved old-time friend, George Curtis Morrisette; beloved grandchildren Chad Aaron and Ashley Elizabeth Craddock, Trish Megan and Cameron Cole Cunneen, Jessica Nicole and Craig Brian Murphy, Aaron Kyle and Jenee’ Nicole Farrar Zaragoza and Brooks Cannon Craddock; great-grandchildren Ethan Jacob and Summer Nicole Pearce, Bailey Ann Zaragoza, Zachery Tyler, Landen Taylor, Kaden Michael and Mary Addisen Murphy and Cullen Craddock Cunneen; brother Robert Shannon Crawford; sister Josephine Lee Crawford and husband George Wallace Wilder and many nieces, nephews and cousins.
She was preceded in death by her parents; baby boy Craddock and her first-born grandson, Baton Andrew “Drew” McGinty.

Our family would like to thank Compassionate Care Hospice for their loving care of her and their kind support extended to all of her family.

A memorial service celebrating her life will be held Saturday, September 23rd at 2:00pm at Nobles Funeral Chapel. Rev. Clyde Larrabee will officiate. Arrangements are under the direction of Nobles Funeral Chapel.

Mary K. will be cremated and her ashes scattered on her land.

You are invited to leave kind words and fond memories at www.noblesfuneral.com .