John Edward Crowder

John Edward ("Ed") Crowder, of Big Lake, Alaska, passed away on Tuesday, August 2, 2011 in Alaska. Ed was born on August 20, 1926 in Eufaula, Oklahoma to John and Madeline (Baumgarner) Crowder. He attended and graduated from Eufaula High School. Ed enlisted in the United States Navy on August 1, 1944 and was honorably discharged on December 31, 1946 after service in the Pacific Theater during World War II, where he participated in the Battle of Okinawa. He then became a merchant marine and sailed on merchant vessels for ten years, working his way from an entry-level position in the engine room to Chief Engineer. During his seagoing career, Ed survived the sinking of the "Flying Enterprise." On June 29, 1957, he married Mildred Alma Schiller in Folkston, Georgia, whom he had met while Mildred was sailing as a passenger on a merchant ship. The couple went to Alaska for their honeymoon, and Ed found a job in a power plant in Ft. Richardson, near Anchorage. While working and raising his children in Anchorage, Ed received his Bachelor’s Degree and was the first graduate of the Alaska Methodist University, which is now Alaska Pacific University. He worked in positions of increasing responsibility in power plants in Alaska and was Power Plant Superintendent at Ft. Greeley and Clear Air Force Station. An avid outdoorsman, Ed enjoyed hunting and fishing in Alaska with his many children. The family traveled each summer to the "Lower 48", often by car from Alaska to visit family in Connecticut, Florida and Oklahoma. After he retired from shore-side power plant duty, Ed returned to the sea where he worked on Crowley tugboats docking supertankers at Valdez, Alaska, and on oil exploration and production vessels in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Ed then joined Alaska's Coastal Defense Force, where he rose to the rank of Colonel and had responsibility for protecting several hundred miles of Alaska's coastline. Survivors include: his wife, Mildred, of the home; four sons, Bob Crowder and wife, Suzie, of Los Angeles, California; Kurt Crowder and wife, Kristina, of Brentwood, California; John Edward Crowder and wife, Sherri, of Bethel Island, California; Casey Crowder and wife, Deb, of Palmer, Alaska.; three daughters: Debbie Crowder-Brady and husband, Mark, of Mooresville, North Carolina; Georgia Joyce and husband, Mike, of Remsenburg, New York; Virginia Crowley and husband, Chris, of Leesburg, Virginia; two brothers, Jim Casey, of Kodiak, Alaska; Donnie Crowder; two sisters, Edna and Carolyn and eighteen grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents; one son, Edward Roger Crowder; and one brother.