Otis Bland Crowder Jr.

CROWDER, Otis Bland Jr., age 84, of South Hill, and a life long resident of Boydton, died Saturday, March 29, 2008 in the Community Memorial Healthcenter in South Hill, Virginia. Known as "Son", he was born October 12, 1923 in Chase City, Virginia to Nancy Toone Crowder and Otis Bland Crowder. After graduation from Boydton High School, he attended the Virginia Episcopal School before entering the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. During World War II, he participated in the War Work Program there, and later served in the Army Air Corps, attending Electronics and LORAN School at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before deployment in the Pacific Theatre. After the war, he returned to William and Mary graduating in 1950. While there he was a member of Sigma Pi Fraternity. Mr. Crowder taught Government, Civics, History and other courses at Buckhorn, Boydton, and Bluestone High Schools, retiring after more than 35 years of service. He was also a coach for many years, 19 of them in baseball, in addition to football and basketball. He was an avid golfer, and was active in the Historic Boydton Renaissance, and a member of the Saint James Episcopal Church in Boydton. Surviving are his wife, Barbara Montgomery Connelly Crowder; three sons, Otis Bland Crowder III of Richmond, David Miller Crowder of Boydton, and Allen Boyd Crowder of Williamsburg; their mother, Josephine Miller Crowder of Williamsburg; two grandsons, Cory Blake Crowder of Radford, Va. and Ethan Kyle Crowder of Chase City; one brother, Edwin Alexander Crowder; and one nephew, Edwin Alexander Crowder Jr.; both of Boydton, and numerous cousins; three stepdaughters, Judi Connelly Newman of Sharpes, Barbara Connelly Moore of South Hill, and Betsy Connelly Quicke of Richmond; six stepgrandchildren and three stepgreat-grandchildren also survive him. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Annie Nash Toone "Mamar" and Edwin Love Toone; his paternal grandparents, Kate Humphreys Crowder and Alexander Bascom Crowder; and a son, William Franklin Crowder. Graveside services will be held Monday, March 31 at 11 a.m. at the Saint James Episcopal Church Cemetery in Boydton with the Reverend Harrison T. Simons officiating. The family will receive friends Sunday from 5 till 7 p.m. at the Watkins Cooper Lyon Funeral Home in Clarksville. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a favorite charity. Watkins Cooper Lyon Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.wclfh.com.
This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.