Jodene Crawford

Jodene L. Dye Crawford Champaign - Jodene L. Dye Crawford was born on June 3, 1947, in Valparaiso, Ind., daughter of Nixie McPherson Dye and Robert L Dye. Jodi passed away Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025, in Wilmington, N.C., with her children by her side. Jodi moved to Champaign in 1956 when Bob and Nixie opened the Chuck Wagon Diner. She attended Franklin Junior High and Champaign High School and was a varsity cheerleader. After graduation, she worked at the Chuck Wagon waiting tables until she attended stewardess training in Dallas for American Airlines. She would later be stationed out of Boston, where she met her husband, Robert R. Crawford. They married in 1968 and moved back to Champaign to start a family and had two children, Shad and Misti. Jodi enjoyed being a homemaker and was the "block mother" to many children in the neighborhood. Later, she worked alongside her mother, Nixie, at the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on West Springfield Avenue in Champaign, serving many a "chicken little" to all the high-schoolers from Centennial on their lunch hour. After the family KFCs were sold in 1999, she owned and operated a "CUTS" franchise, a men's gym facility, on Kirby Avenue. For the brief time it was open, she developed a core group of members whom she came to value as friends as well as patrons. Lastly, she worked for Christie Clinic as a courier and a physical-therapy assistant for many years, where she built many valued friendships with several of the lab personnel and physical therapists. She was a loving caregiver to both parents until their passing. Moving to Carolina Beach, N.C., in 2018, her main pastime was being super grandma to seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She was a loyal Illini football fan, and following in her mom and dad's footsteps, she was also a White Sox baseball fan. She is survived by a son, Shad Crawford of Carolina Beach; a daughter, Misti Hall (Sam) of Goose Creek, S.C.; and a brother, Robert E. Dye (Dale) Champaign. There will be a private family celebration of life in mid-November in North Carolina . Memorial contributions can be made to the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen or an organization of the donor's choice.