Louis Lawnin Crawford, Sr.

Louis Lawnin Crawford (Sr) died peacefully on 4/08/2017, at the Rose Arbor Hospice Care Center in Kalamazoo.  Lou was born in St. Louis, MO, on 3/12/1926.  He attended St. Louis Country Day School and Princeton University, where he received a chemical engineering degree.  He earned an MBA from the University of Chicago.  His first career was spent in selling meat packing equipment and designing rendering plants, first for the Allbright Nell Company in Chicago, and subsequently, for his own firm, International Food Engineering. 

For 30 years he traveled to over 80 countries, mostly in third-world settings, to set up food processing plants.  His second career was as owner of Square Root Farms in Grand Junction, MI.  His passion for farming blueberries lasted nearly 40 years.  He lived in South Haven from 1976 to the present, most recently at River Ridge Retirement Community.  He was a prolific artist, producing hundreds of paintings, mobiles, and wood carvings. 

He was preceded in death by his first wife, Joan Ashley, and his second wife, Courtney Coolidge. 

He is survived by three children (Rebecca Gray, Constance C. Schmitz, and Louis Lawnin Crawford, Jr.), seven grandchildren, five step-children, twelve step-grandchildren, and numerous great-grand children from both families. 

Services will be held at the South Haven Church of the Epiphany, 410 Erie Street, South Haven, Michigan 49090 on April 29 at 1:00 PM.  Flowers and donations may be sent to the Church.   Kindly share your thoughts and memories on the family’s online guestbook.