John William Crawford Jr.

CRAWFORD

JOHN WILLIAM CRAWFORD JR. Capt. US Navy (ret.)

Passed away peacefully on February 28, 2022, in Kensington, Maryland. Capt. Crawford graduated, with distinction, as a member of the United States Naval Academy Class of 1942. He was a World War II veteran whose first wartime assignment was to the USS Yorktown, which was deployed to the Battle of Midway. After the war, he earned M.S. degrees in Physics (Nuclear Engineering) and Naval Construction and Engineering, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a nuclear engineer and naval architect, Capt. Crawford was a pioneer of the U.S. Navy's nuclear program. He oversaw research and development of the first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, as well as nuclear plant propulsion work on the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise, and the combat submarines USS Robert E. Lee and USS Shark. After his retirement from the Navy, Capt. Crawford served with distinction at the Atomic Energy Commission and was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy at the Department of Energy. Presidents George H.W. Bush and William Clinton appointed Capt. Crawford to consecutive terms on the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. Capt. Crawford grew up in New Hampshire. He was a 1937 graduate of the Tilton School, where he was a member of the varsity ski and football teams. He received the United States Naval Academy Alumni Association Distinguished Graduate Award in 2001. He was predeceased by his beloved wife, Elizabeth F. "Betty" Edwards Crawford. He is survived by his cherished children, Elizabeth F. Crawford, Mary P. Crawford (Brian T. Downie), Carol A. Crawford (Emily E. White), John W. Crawford III, and his beloved grandchildren, James Crawford Downie (Kelly Roberts), Edmund Thomas Downie (Abigail Bok), and Alexander Edwards Downie. A Mass of Christian Burial and funeral service at Arlington National Cemetery will be held on a future date.

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