Elroy Christian Crum

CRUM, Elroy Christian

Elroy was born March 21, 1924 to Frank and Bessie Mae (Freudenberger) Crum at Crum Canyon in Entiat, Washington. He grew up with three brothers, Frank, Floyd and Norman (Shorty). When growing up in Entiat, Elroy remembers having to go barefoot because their parents couldn't afford to buy shoes. He also went into the fields and picked asparagus to sell to a grocery store to help provide for his family. They had an apple orchard, and Elroy and his dad would build the apple boxes, after they were full they would go to the market in Wenatchee and sell a full box of apples for .25 cents. Elroy was young during the depression and remembers having to build his own toys and receiving only one gift for Christmas. His family moved to Wilbur, Washington and Elroy enlisted in the Navy during WWII and was given the job of running radar. He was off the coast of Iwo Jima when it was bombed and saw the raising of the flag on Mt. Sarabachi. Elroy and Ada met in Spokane after he got out of the service and were married in Clarkston, Washington on June 12, 1949. Elroy and Ada moved to Sprague, Washington where Elroy and his brother Shorty opened a new Texaco station. Elroy and Ada raised four children; Linda Brown of Spokane, Don Crum (Linda) of Spokane, Mike Crum who passed away in 2002 from Lou Gehrig's disease and Patti Anderson (Dave) of Davenport. His is also survived by his brother Norman (Elizabeth) Crum of Lewiston, also lots of nieces and nephews. Elroy always loved working on cars and made a living for his family doing so until they retired and sold the station in 1986. They then moved to Priest Lake, Idaho where the family had vacationed each year. He loved to boat, one time when the kids were in high school, they gathered up enough ropes and water skis to get 13 kids up behind his boat, it took quite a while and a lot of dragging kids in the water before they all got up. Elroy and Ada have five grandchildren, Jennifer Crum, Bryan Crum, Dena Brown, Jeremy and Justin Holderby and six great-grandchildren. He's preceded in death by his wife Ada in June 2009, six days after their 60th wedding anniversary and two brothers: Frank and Floyd. A Military Graveside Service will be held on Thursday, April 14, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. at the Washington State Veteran's Cemetery, 21702 W. Espanola Rd., Medical Lake, WA 99022. The family suggests donations be made to the WWII Veteran's Memorial at: National WWII Memorial, Processing Center, PO Box 186, Calverton, NY 11933. Elroy was the kindest, most gentle man with a great demeanor and all his kids and grandkids loved being around him. A special thank you to North Center Care Center.

"Don't cry because he's not here....smile because he was."

STRATE FUNERAL HOME, DAVENPORT, WASHINGTON is caring for the family.