Jean G. Crawford, 95, of Mayfield KY died at home Thursday, October 17, 2019 surrounded by his family. Jean was born on September 6, 1924 on the family farm in Calloway County KY, the son of T. Wade and Clover Crawford. He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Fred Crawford and Ben Crawford. He is survived by his wife of 73 years Bettye E. Crawford and 5 children. Survivors include three daughters, Marilyn Crawford, Carol (Dr. Joseph) Slaughter, and Jill (David) Cannamela and two sons Dr. Mark (Donna) Crawford and Ben (Beth) Crawford. He leaves 10 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.
A life-long Baptist, Jean grew up in Murray KY where at age 17 he met his future bride Bettye Eberhardt of Owensboro in town for a training union convention at Murray’s First Baptist Church. He graduated from Murray High School in the Class of 1942. With WW2 having started, Jean enlisted in the US Army Air Force and entered pilot training in January 1943. He said he liked flying because you got to run the throttle wide open. By July 1944 the now 19-year-old pilot and second lieutenant Crawford was picking up a brand-new C-47 in Ft. Wayne Indiana and flying it across the Atlantic to England where he was assigned to the 100th Troop Carrier Squadron in the US 9th Air Force. Combat missions flown by Jean included dropping paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne in Holland and towing gliders of the 17th Airborne for the Rhine crossing. Preferring a return to civilian life, at the end of the war Jean turned down an offer to remain in the service and fly as copilot on General Eisenhower’s personal airplane. He would finish his military service with the rank of captain.
Returning to the States in December 1945, Jean started college at the University of Kentucky in January 1946. He and Bettye were married on August 8, 1946 in Owensboro, a union that was to last for the next 73 years. Jean graduated from the University of Kentucky in l948 with a BS in civil engineering and from Georgia Tech in 1949 with his Master’s degree also in civil engineering. In the early 1950’s he worked as an engineer for TVA on construction of the Chickamauga Dam and later as a field supervisor for the engineering firm Giffels & Vallet on construction of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant. This last job led to Jean and Bettye settling down in Mayfield. He entered the construction business in 1953 working as manager of the Paducah office for the construction firm of Chism and Miller. In 1956 he entered business for himself founding Crawford Construction Company. Over the next 55 years his firm engaged primarily in highway, bridge, and municipal construction projects. He served as President of the local chapter of the Associated General Contractors as well as on the Health and Welfare board of the Laborer’s Union.
In 1980 Jean entered the banking industry with the purchase of the Exchange Bank in Mayfield. He said that as a contractor he was always borrowing from a bank and now he wanted to try out the other end. Serving for the next 39 years as Chairman of the Board, the Exchange Bank, with a single office in Mayfield, would grow to become First Kentucky Bank with multiple offices from Bardwell to Central City.
Jean continued his love for aviation piloting his own planes as a civilian pilot. In 2013 at age 89, he flew a Cessna from Paris, France passing over his old WW2 airbase at Dreux to Normandy, some 68 years after his last flight over Europe. He enjoyed not being shot at this time. He participated in several national WW2 veteran organizations. He also loved running the family cattle farm, clearing fields, burning brush, and eradicating Johnson grass and kudzu.
A member of Mayfield’s First Baptist Church since 1952, Jean loved his work and all of the people that he encountered. For those reasons he never really retired. In later years when he was asked when he was going to slow down, he often said that he was going to live his life just like Dale Earnhart, “Wide open until I hit the wall.” Wife Bettye’s response to that was “I’m going through the gate!”
Services will be held at Byrn Funeral Home in Mayfield, with visitation on Sunday October 20 from 3-5. The funeral will be held at the funeral home on Monday October 21, at 11 am, with burial to follow at the Murray Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to First Baptist Church in Mayfield, to be used for their program for Native American children in Arizona.