Ormond Beach - Fletcher S. Crowe Jr. 87 passed away Monday May 10 2010 at the Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center Ormond Beach FL following a brief illness.
He leaves his wife of 66 years Marjorie (Muchmore) Crowe; his son Dr. Fletcher S. Crowe III of Ormond Beach son Dr. Randel A. Crowe of Interlachen FL; grandchildren: Fletcher S. (Scotty) Crowe of Tallahassee FL; Wesley R. (Ried) Crowe of Kennesaw GA; Derek A. (Andy) Crowe of Boca Raton FL; Erika M. (Rose) Crowe of Salem OR; Thron R. Crowe of Sanford FL and seven great-grandchildren. He is survived by his three sisters: Virginia (Ginny Ann) Holifield of Sacramento CA; Ruth Crowe Drissell of Wright City MO; and Carol Crowe Ruffatti of Bradenton FL. Born in St. Louis MO on Oct. 2 1922 Fletcher was the son of Rev. Fletcher S. Crowe Sr. a well-known Methodist minister of Oklahoma and Methodist District Superintendent of southern Missouri. After graduating from high school in Muskogee OK in 1939 Fletcher graduated from the Univ. of Oklahoma in 1943 where he met his wife-to-be Marjorie Muchmore of Ponca City OK the daughter of Clyde E. Muchmore the owner and editor of the Ponca City News newspaper. They were married in 1943 and lived briefly in Cambridge MA where Fletcher studied newly invented radar at the world-famous Radiation Laboratory of Harvard and MIT. After serving as the radar officer aboard the Attack-Transport USS Logan which saw duty at Iwo Jima Fletcher returned to the Univ. of Oklahoma for a second degree in engineering. He then joined General Electric in 1947 a company that he was to remain with for the rest of his working career. Fletcher was a manager with GE with the Atlas ICBM Down-Range Radar system in Utica NY and served with GE's Heavy Military division in North Syracuse NY from 1957 - 1962. In 1962 he and his family moved to Ormond Beach where he managed the GE Zero Defects reliability program for NASA during the Apollo Moon Landing Program. He and Marji then lived in South Burlington VT where he retired from GE in 1982. Fletch was an avid golfer photographer and ham radio enthusiast. But he is perhaps best remembered by his family as an unceasing caregiver and emotional Rock of Gibraltar. A visitation is scheduled at the Lohman Funeral Home 733 West Granada Blvd. Ormond Beach FL from 3-5pm Thursday May 13 2010. The funeral service will commence at 5:00pm and a reception will follow. In lieu of flowers a donation may be made in his name to the Wounded Warrior Project fund on the Internet. Fletcher will be laid to rest at the Florida National Veteran's Cemetery in Bushnell FL on Friday May 14 in a private ceremony. Friends may send condolences to www.LohmanFuneralHomes.com. Arrangements are under the careful supervision of Lohman Funeral Home Ormond.