Paul Edmond Crookham

PAUL EDMOND CROOKHAM JULY 26, 1908 - JULY 20, 2006 Paul Edmond Crookham, born in a sod house in Edmond, Kansas on July 26, 1908, passed away on July 20, 2006 at his home in Atwater.

Paul is preceded in death by his parents, Don Crookham of Kansas and Margaret (Roedell) Crookham of Illinois; wife, Sybil; brothers, Russell and Wayne; sister, Norma and daughter, Barbara.

Paul is survived by his sisters, Midge, Doris and Helen; his son, Richard; grandchildren, Megan, David, Lisa, Tom, and John and several great-grandchildren.

Kansas was deep into a drought when Paul was born, so the family moved to Los Angeles where his father, Don, was a street car conductor. After four years, the family of five piled onto a motorcycle and rode up to Santa Barbara where street car conductors got paid a dollar more a day and they saw the first airplane take off and land. Two years later they moved to Burbank where Paul's father built backdrops and scenery for movies in the early days of Hollywood.

In 1915 the Crookhams moved to a 20 acre ranch which is now a part of Castle Airport. The land wasn't suitable for farming so the family moved to Mariposa where Paul's dad completed the bridges on Highway 140. Late in 1916 the family moved back to the new town of Atwater, population 200; a few years after electricity arrived. Once in Atwater, the senior Crookham built irrigation pumps and put up windmills for farmers. Paul started working for Crookham Brothers in 1917.

At that time all the firemen were businessmen in town. So when his dad joined the Chamber of Commerce and fire department, Paul was assigned to the bucket brigade and collected donations to buy the first hand pumper engine in 1918. When his dad retired from active duty in 1933, Paul was elected to active membership as nozzle man and was sworn in as deputy sheriff that same year.

In the meantime, Paul had graduated from Merced High, drove the school bus and was an usher at the Merced Theater. In the 20's, he was responsible for organizing the DeMolay Chapter for boys and Job's Daughters Chapter for girls in Merced. His long involvement with Masonic Fraternity in both Merced and Livingston led to his election as State Rainbow Dad in 1982-83 and numerous Masonic awards such as the Hiram in 2003. Paul was also a member of the White Shrine, Eastern Star, Shriners and Scottish Rite. Even though Paul was officially retired by the fire department after 60 years, his Lodge brothers have continued driving him to Masonic meetings in Livingston.

Dorothy Bizzini and other members of the congregation have continued to drive Paul to and from the United Methodist Church which he had faithfully attended since arriving in Atwater. A direct descendent of Patrick Henry, Paul served over 3 years in World War II in India and Burma and was a longtime member of the American Legion and VFW. When Paul sort of retired from plumbing, he continued to provide home-care hospital equipment to veterans and others from 1950 until his death.

In 1937, Paul married Sybil Nye. Sybil was a teacher, principal and superintendent in Winton and member of the Merced County Board of Education until her death in 2003. She will be remembered for giving the Virginia Smith trust land to UC Merced. Which just goes to show you that behind every great woman is a good man.

To be brief, I've had to leave out many more friends and organizations that Paul loved and belonged to. Please forgive me. Paul quietly went about doing good for others. His main priorities were family and being of service to his community. He will be missed.

A visitation will be held on Friday, July 28, 2006 at 10am; Wilson Family Funeral Chapel, 1290 Winton Way from 1:00-8:00 pm. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, July 29, 2006 at Atwater United Methodist Church on the corner of Bellevue and Linden; with Pastor Victoria Schlintz. Following the burial at Winton Cemetery, refreshments will be served back at the United Methodist Church.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the United Methodist Church, 2550 Linden St., Atwater, CA 95301 or to the Sybil Crookham Scholarship Fund, Merced Union High School District Administration Office, Castle Airport 3430 W. A., Atwater, CA 95301.

Arrangements entrusted to Wilson Family Funeral Chapel.

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