Roger Lawrence "Larry" Crandall

1931 - 2022

Crandall, Roger Lawrence "Larry" WATERFORD Roger Lawrence "Larry" Crandall entered into eternal life on Thursday, May 19, 2022, at the age of 90. Born on November 29, 1931, in Cohoes, he was the child of Katherine and William Crandall of Waterford. Larry was preceded in death by his five siblings, Katherine Schindel (William), Sue Davis (Lindon), Jeane Kahler (Charles), the Reverend William Crandall, and James Crandall (Joann). Larry was a graduate of Catholic High in Troy. He attended the College of the Holy Cross for two years and graduated with a B.A. from Siena College. He was awarded a master's degree in English from Fordham University. He wrote his master's thesis on his favorite poet, the Jesuit, Gerard Manley Hopkins. Larry then remained in New York City, using his creative talent, design skills and verbal flair to pursue a career in advertising. He began as a copywriter at the noted agency McCann-Erickson. He later moved on to other agencies and positions, among them serving as creative director at Diners Club Corporate Advertising and founding partner of the Miller-Crandall Agency. After experiencing all Manhattan had to offer in the 1960s, Larry decided on a major life change. He returned to Waterford, becoming a partner in Crandall's Antiques, a family tradition. Again, his brilliant eye for design and his creativity came into play as he exhibited and sold antiques across the country, including a yearly stint at the Brimfield show in Massachusetts. He gradually included estate appraisals. He, with his brother, made many trips to Europe in search of fine pieces for resale. Most of his nieces' homes can boast of at least one antique sourced from Uncle Larry. For many years, Larry also cared for his widowed father until his father's death in 1979. For many, many years, family and friends loved to hear Larry sing. His delightful light tenor was heard in solos at family festivities, friends' weddings and funerals and in church. Another talent was for ballroom dancing. Nourished by the great Hollywood musicals, he loved to perform on the dance floor. From cutting a rug in the Waterford family kitchen (with the sounds of the big bands blasting from the radio, all the Crandall siblings loved to dance), to every festivity of family and friends, to the nightclubs of Manhattan, Larry acted out his dream as a latter-day Fred Astaire. He was always a hit with his height, good looks and sense of style. He initiated the, now a common trend, dancing by moonlight in the Piazza San Marco in Venice. After rewarding the orchestra members of Cafe Quadri with a bottle of Grand Marnier for playing his requests, the musicians would stand and bow every time Larry walked across the Piazza. But the core of Larry's life was his devout faith. Brought up as a Catholic, he had a great love for the church, living a life of intensifying devotion to Christ. His life was one of prayer, study, charitable work and evangelization. Over the years, Larry made many retreats in far-flung places, deepening his knowledge of the interaction of God with His world. The most life-changing one he never stopped recalling, was a retreat he made at the Trappist's Mepkin Abbey in South Carolina, where he lived for an extended period with the Trappist monks. He came to the realization that his vocation was to be a bearer of God's love in the world and not to seek a cloistered life. He participated in several Catholic action groups, both at the parish level and with a wider scope. For instance, he was president of the Nocturnal Adoration Society at St. Augustine's in Troy and received Volunteer of the Year awards from both the New York State Right to Life group and the Citizens Concerned for Human Life. He served as a lector at St. Mary of the Assumption for 10 years. Larry made many pilgrimages to holy sites and shrines all over the United States and Europe. But the one that struck to the core of his heart was his devotion to the Shrine of Mary Immaculate in Lourdes, France. He began the first of 25 years of service at Lourdes in May 1982. He wrote "I almost found it as the center of the world." He helped sick pilgrims, at first those arriving at the railroad station. Later he wrote, "After nearly 20 years, I have settled into service at the Piscines, as one settles into a comfortable chair. The baths are, for me, the center of Lourdes, where it's really happening." The work with sick pilgrims was arduous and required yearly journeys to a remote part of France, but Larry kept it up until he was no longer physically able. He made many deep friendships with fellow volunteers coming from every European country and all walks of life. He would find this worldwide dedication, in service to the sick and dying, a miracle in itself. He was central in establishing the organization "North American Hospitality Volunteers." Larry was extraordinarily devoted to family; full of wit, he was known as a great tease. But he was always ready to listen to troubles and shelter a straying lamb. He was a beloved uncle to ten surviving nieces and nephews, Therese Bradley (Larry), Linda Lee Davis, Melissa Davis (Cheryl Ritter), Andrew Kahler (Monica), Charles Kahler (Mina), Katherine Mahn (Stephen), William Schindel (Lynne), Laurel Senger, Liz Staley (Owen), and Jenna Williams. Three nieces predeceased him, Karin Crandall, Leslie Kelly and Roberta Schindel. He also numbers among his survivors 22 great-nieces and nephews, many great-grandnieces and nephews and several great-great-grandnieces; and a cousin, Warren Broderick of Troy. Funeral services will be on Friday, May 27, at 9:30 a.m. in St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Waterford. Interment will follow in St. Paul's Cemetery, Mechanicville. Relatives and friends may visit at the Philip J. Brendese Funeral Home, 133 Broad St., Waterford on Thursday, May 26, from 4 to 7 p.m. Everyone is requested to be masked. Those who wish may make memorial contributions to the Seraphic Mass Association, 5217 Butler St., Unit 100 Pittsburg, PA, 15201-2657 or mymassrequest.org To express your sympathy or share a treasured memory, please visit Brendesefuneralhome.com