Joe Crumbley

News Obituary Article

JONESBORO: Joe Crumbley, retired judge, Civil War buff

By DERRICK HENRY

As a Superior Court judge for Clayton County, Joe Crumbley was unafraid to take a controversial or unpopular stand.

In 1991, he ruled that the group Citizens Against Paying Increased Taxes (CAPIT) was wrongly charged $2,200 by the Clayton County government. He determined CAPIT should only pay 25 cents per page for summaries of county legal fees, instead of being charged for the services of 26 county employees. The final bill: $250.

In 1987, he ordered Clayton County to increase tax assessments because the county had been underassessing most property. The result: a 40 percent increase in property taxes, shocking homeowners.

After signing a temporary protective order for a battered woman, Judge Crumbley would sometimes take his pen and stick it through the paper. He would then caution the woman that the order did not stop his pen and might not stop her husband.

"He was an insightful and well-versed judge who had an absolute grasp of all the legal issues in the cases he tried," said Jonesboro attorney G. Robert Oliver of the firm Oliver & Winkle.

Joe Callaway Crumbley, 72, of Jonesboro, died Tuesday at Crawford Long Hospital of complications following surgery. The body was cremated. The memorial service is 2 p.m. today at Fayetteville First United Methodist Church. Wages & Sons Funeral Home, Stone Mountain, is in charge of arrangements.

"He had a judicial temperament --- calm, fair and brilliant," said his wife, Mary Crumbley.

But even Judge Crumbley --- a MENSA member --- had his limits. "He didn't have much patience with lawyers who weren't prepared," Mr. Oliver said. "He wanted the lawyers to visit him before court started, and would regale us with his stories. A lot of those stories had to do with lawyers who didn't fare too well."

The Jonesboro native served four years in Korea as an Air Force radar technician. He came home in 1955 and entered Woodrow Wilson College of Law, graduating in 1957. He went to work for Oliver & Winkle, then opened his own practice in 1963. He was appointed to the Clayton County Superior Court in 1977.

When he retired in 1992, he devoted himself to his grandchildren, travel, gardening and hunting for Civil War relics.

"He grew butterbeans, lettuce, okra, squash, onions, bell peppers, and several varieties of tomatoes," his wife said. "He grew the most beautiful roses and all kinds of flowers."

With his friend Melvin Newman, the Civil War buff visited sites in Dalton, Lovejoy and elsewhere, metal detector in hand. "He found Minie balls, belt buckles and bullets," his wife said.

Survivors also include three daughters, Carmen Cross of Knoxville, Tenn., Lisa Bass of Kennesaw and Dawn Williams of Canton; a sister, Gladys Sundy of Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; a brother, Howard Crumbley of Ellicott City, Md.; and four grandchildren.

© 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution