Marvin Leroy Crum

Local Reedley Historian, Father, Grandfather, Ag instructor, Community servant, Sailor, Amateur weatherman and devoted lemon meringue pie lover, Marvin Leroy Crum, passed awaypeacefully on 5/16/2023 at Sierra View Home in Reedley surrounded by his loved ones. He was 87 years old. Marvin was born 9/24/1936 and was the oldest child of Rolla & Elva Crum and lived his entire life in Reedley, a feat that he was quite proud of achieving. Marvin was known to many as “Mr. Reedley” because he loved his town and was happy to sit down and settle into a good “Bull Session” with anyone that had a few minutes to spare; usually those minutes stretched much longer than anyone expected. My dad loved to tell stories and give advice to
anyone that had time to sit and listen.

Marvin attended elementary school at Great Western School in rural Reedley and made many lifelong friendships with his classmates. Marvin also was an active Boy Scout and often talked about climbing Mt. Whitney with his scout troop. He went on to graduate from Reedley High school in class of 1955 and then attended Reedley College majoring in Agriculture. His education continued at the Fresno State College and graduated in 1960 with a degree in Agriculture Education and went on to get his teaching credential at UC Davis. He completed his student teaching in Yuba City, CA and then took his first teaching job at Parlier High school in 1961. He accepted a position to become the Ag instructor at Reedley High school in 1963 and taught at Reedley until he retired in 1998. Marvin also spent 8 years serving his country in the National Guard posted in Reedley, attaining the rank of sergeant. In addition, one of Marvin's best stories that he liked to tell was about one of the many times as a teenager he helped paint the “R” on Cambell mountain for all of Reedley to see! Of course there was also the story that he would tell after a glass of wine or two about the time he and his buddies turned a bunch of chickens loose in downtown Reedley on G street when they were in high school but never got caught. That one always got a laugh.

During his time at Parlier High School he met his first wife, my mother Joetta Franks, and they were married on “Groundhogs” day in 1963 and enjoyed a wonderful marriage until Joetta passed away unexpectedly in 1989. Marvin was not one to want to live life alone and soon after rekindled a relationship with his high school friend, Betty Krause Duerksen, and they were married in 1992. Betty and Marvin both truly loved Reedley and spent much of their time together serving the community as an unstoppable team. They were involved in many community activities and worked tirelessly to help any one that asked or oftentimes just jumped in to help out; this is what they did together. Marvin and Betty were honored by being named “King & Queen” of the Reedley Fiesta in 2000. Betty passed away in May of 2016 and it was a tremendous loss to Marvin but he just used her passing to motivate him to continue their life of service to honor her memory.

My dad was a teacher and he impacted the lives of thousands of students over the years. It was one of his most treasured achievements. He believed that every person has a special talent and his job was to help them find that special talent and then develop it in them. He truly loved his students and I can honestly tell you I have lost count of the past students that knew my dad. They always made a point to tell me what a great teacher he was and how they were thankful that he taught them. Marvin loved people and loved teaching which was a great passion of his life. He retired in 1998 when my family and I moved back to Reedley. He retired because he wanted to help our family, as we had a medical issue that impacted us tremendously. Once again, Marvin, seeing a need greater than himself, quietly stepped up and served his own family. He enjoyed his involvement with his grandchildren, Jordan, Lauryn, and Eli Crum. They were the loves of his life. They never missed a chance to go and hang out with
their “Papa'' and Grandma Betty. Marvin and Betty made as many swim meets, school plays, baseball, basketball, and volleyball games as they could and were always making sure the kids had plenty to eat. They spent a lot of time with their grandkids and really had a special bond with each of them and took them on countless adventures. Marvin developed his love of sailing at a young age, after buying a small sail boat from his neighbor in the late 1950’s. It was a small 15 ft boat called a snipe. He would take his new found toy first to Pine Flat Lake, later to Millerton, and eventually to Huntington Lake where his love for sailing turned into a passion. He joined the Fresno Yacht Club in 1963 and became a lifelong member. He upgraded to a 17ft Thistle and began racing his new boat all over California, but his favorite place to be was Huntignton Lake. In 1972 after my mother kept complaining about the Thistle and how it wasn’t a family boat, Marvin decided to buy a brand new 21 ft. San Jaun 21 and this is really when his love transitioned to an obsession. We drove all the way to Seattle to pick his boat, #501 “Crum’ee”, from the factory. Pretty much every summer was spent racing his boat at Millerton Lake, Huntington Lake, and many lakes all over California, Oregon, and Washington. He participated in nearly every High Sierra Regatta from 1965 through 2014 and in most of those years also made trips to race in the San Juan “National Regatta”. Now, Marvin didn't do a lot of winning but he was always a competitive sailor, and to be honest he really didn't care about winning as much as he cared about how good his boat could “point” up wind. In fact, I think most of his savings were spent on trying to figure out this life long pursuit of making his boat perform as he thought it should. After he had his stroke in November 2022, he knew he would never get to sail again, but he made me promise that his
boat would go to someone that would continue racing it and to make sure that all of his innovative custom sails that he had made over the years went with it. He said he would be sitting upstairs and making sure they continued his path of sailing improvements.

Marvin’s other passion was walking with the Lord and he was a member of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Reedley from 1972 until it was closed and moved to Sanger as Holy Cross Anglican Church. He served in leadership in the church off and on over the entire time that he was a member. My dad was not a flashy Christian; he was a real everyday Christian that loved the Lord and he did everything that he could do to help others every time that he could. He was a great example to everyone that knew him and they all knew he was a God fearing man. He spent many tireless years helping maintain the Episcopal church camp, “Camp San Joaquin”, and later on the Episcopal Camp and Conference Center at Oakhurst. For all of his efforts, he was awarded the Bishops Cross to honor his hard work and dedication by then Bishop Victor Rivera in the Mid 1990’s.

Marvin, in the late 1970’s, took over the large church BBQ event for Good Shepherd Church and as he was known to do, he figured out how to make it better. He decided that the Lamb Shish KeBab needed a large BBQ with mechanical turners to make the whole process better. So he undertook the task of building several “Large” heavy duty BBQ's. He was known to pretty much over build everything he designed to make sure it would last. This BBQ project was no exception and once he got it figured out, he decided that he would also get into the Tri tip BBQ game and started building BBQs for this as well. Not many know, but Marvin was responsible for introducing “Tri Tip” here in Reedley in 1979. He went to an ag teachers conference at Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo and was introduced to tri tip by the Ag Teacher from Santa Maria High School. I remember the first time he prepared this for an event at our church and it was a big hit. He spent a good deal of time volunteering his time to either BBQ for groups himself or arranging to loan out his “BIG” BBQ to groups and families all over Reedley.

Marvin was an active member of the Reedley Sunrise Kiwanis for over 40 years and served in many leadership roles. He was always working with them on one fund raising event or service project. He was always willing to lend a hand or pick up a shovel or donate money or, more importantly, his time. Marvin valued hard work above all else and worked hard to pass this value onto his son, grandchildren, and the countless students that he taught. He also was a passionate Reedley Historian and was very active in the Reedley Historical Society. Marvin served several terms as president and was at the museum pretty much every Tuesday and Saturday for the past 15 years. He loved history and loved reading about history. He always had a book to hand to someone to read about some historical event that he found interesting. No matter how long he was retired from education, he never lost an opportunity to educate someone. Even when he was at Sierra View, when I would visit him, he always had a list of books he wanted me to bring him from his house so that he could give them to someone he thought would be interested.

In today's world we hear about famous people, athletes, and social media stars that are seen as heroes to many. In my eyes my Dad, Marvin Crum, was a true hero and, every day, a hero that lived his life to serve others. He was not a flashy man; he was a common man that loved his wives, his son, his family, his friends, his community, his students, and his church. He always had time to sit and listen, tell a story, give advice, and provide a weather report. He really cared about others in a way that left them with a feeling that they mattered. In today's world, men like my dad are real heroes, people who live a life of service that leave a lasting legacy of love and honor, and passion for the things that matter.

Marvin was preceded in death by his first wife, Joetta, his second wife Betty, his parents, Rolla and Elva Crum, his sister Evelyn Ring and her husband Dennis, his brother in law Carsten Jensen (Mildred). He is survived by his sister Mildred Jensen and her children Erik and Anita Jensen, the children of his sister Evelyn, Lisa Burck, Lyle and Loni Ring, his son Cary Crum and his life partner Susan Hamilton, and Cary’s children Jordan, Lauryn, and Eli Crum.

We are honoring Marvin’s Life on Saturday June 10th at 10:30 am at Christ Lutheran Church 1254 N. Frankwood Ave Reedley, CA 93654 with a funeral service officiated by The Rev Deacon Melinda Barrow of Holy Cross Anglican Church to be immediately followed by a Marvin Crum “Style” Tri tip BBQ lunch hosted by our family at noon. We invite everyone that knew and loved Marvin to come and spend time together to remember him.

We would also ask that in lieu of flowers that you please send donations to:
Reedley Historical Society “Marvin Crum Fund”
PO Box 877, Reedley, CA 93654

We are planning on a permanent historical display area in the museum featuring things that Marvin loved about Reedley.

Our family would like to offer a special thank you to the staff at Sierra View Home where Marvin was a resident after his stroke in November until his passing. They provided amazing love and care to him and especially putting up with him constantly trying to tell them how to improve things around there. In addition, we want to thank all of the friends who took time to visit him and spent time with him. We also want to thank the members of the Reedley Historical Society, Reedley Kiwanis, and the staff and members at Holy Cross Anglican Church in Sanger for the care and support that they provided to him during the last months of his life. Lastly, we would like to thank the KMJ 580 radio station for giving Marvin thousands of hours of enjoyment while he drove or just sat and listened; they were a blessing in his life.