A Life Lived: Freddie B. Crawford’s life was long and her blessings many
Published 1:02 pm Tuesday, June 9, 2020
- Freddie Crawford
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Robert Louis Stevenson likened a long life to a good dinner — the one difference that, in the dinner, the sweets come last.
Freddie B. Crawford was 101 years old when she died May 27, and to her, life was sweet, with perhaps her golden years being the sweetest.
Freddie was the mother of nine children; six of whom she outlived. In addition to her three living children, she has lots and lots of grandchildren, great- and great-great-grandchildren. “There were five generations in the family,” said her daughter, Theresa Crawford.
For a time she lived and worked in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Mama was a housekeeper at the Brooklyn Developmental Center. She went to New York with my daddy, who got a job as a mechanic there. She was very good at her work and always kept a clean house,” her daughter shared.
In addition to being a good housekeeper and mother, Teresa said that her mother was a great cook. “She could cook anything and everything. Her chicken and dumplings were especially good. When we were in New York, we always had Sunday dinner together at her house.”
Freddie’s roots go back to two prominent Black Elizabethton families — the Taylors and Stovers. Her parents were Shelby and Bessie Stover Taylor.
Pearl Smith, whose husband was akin to Freddie’s Stover side of the family, was one of Freddie’s very best long-time friends. “She was a good, Christian woman — a very sweet friend. She was a people person, who enjoyed talking and being with friends,” said Pearl. “When I came to Elizabethton as a young woman, she was one of the first people I met and we quickly became friends.”
Freddie was married to Cecil Crawford, and in addition to Teresa, she has two other children living — Elaine Napier and Michael Crawford.
In addition to cooking, Freddie enjoyed watching wrestling and NASCAR races on television as well as game shows. Her daughter said she also enjoyed working crossword puzzles and was “pretty good” at it.
“My mother lived life to the fullest. She was a good Christian woman and enjoyed going to church,” said Teresa. In her younger years. she attended St. Paul United Methodist Church in Elizabethton, but in her later years when her health and legs began to fail her, she attended church with Teresa at New Zion Faith Center in Johnson City.
Freddie B. Crawford was laid to rest May 31 at Happy Valley Memorial Park.
For Freddie B. Crawford life was a “great big canvas” and she threw all the paint on it she could. She made life fun, colorful, and gave it her best. There was a lot of living in her 101 years on this earth.