John W. Crawford

John W. Crawford was born to John L. and Betty (Loux) Crawford on July 31, 1971, in Tulsa, OK. He moved to his heavenly home on July 24, 2023, at the age of 51 after a lengthy illness.

He is survived by his Sweetness, Michelle; his son, Mitchell; his mother, Betty; his favorite sister, Amy Victory and her husband Roy; several nieces; nephews; aunts; and uncles. He was preceded in death by his dad.

John grew up in Owasso and graduated in 1989. He played soccer, baseball, basketball, and football throughout most of his school career. He was active in Owasso DeMolay and eventually became a Mason. John graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1998 and moved back to the Tulsa area where he had a career in production planning.

On May 1, 2010, he married his best friend and the love of his life, Michelle Brown. He also gained his beautiful son, Mitchell. John's biggest regret was not meeting them sooner so he could love them longer. John took his jobs of husband and father very seriously. He was proud of Mitchell every day, especially the day Mitchell became a Marine.

John had a really dry sense of humor and was an excellent joke teller. He and his dad told each other the same jokes over and over. One of their favorite jokes was about a group of guys that had told the same jokes so often that they numbered them and would call out a number instead of telling the whole joke. One guy would say a number, and everyone would laugh. John and his dad are probably laughing over jokes 53, 71, and 12 right now.

John was incredibly smart and loved reading; he was the guy you wanted on your team for trivia. John also loved all things Ford, old cars, fishing, and cooking, especially if smoking meat was part of the required prep. John loved most foods, but his favorite food of all time was sammiches. He had no shame in turning anything into a sammich. He also had an unnatural love for hot sauce of any kind.

John lived by the motto, "If a two-year-old hands you a pretend phone, you always answer it." He enjoyed volunteering with the 2-year-olds in his church's nursery. He made an excellent human jungle gym and was known to let kids paint his nails or cover him with make-up and paint.

John had many titles and nicknames over the years. He started out being called Little John because his dad was Big John. Once John hit 6'5", he became more of a Little Big John. His most treasured names were MegaMan, Husband, Dad, Son, Big Brother, and Uncle.

Throughout his extended hospital stay, John tried to call every staff member by their name. He would often witness to and pray for those who entered his room.

While we will always mourn John's passing, we are so grateful he is finally healed and free of illness.

A memorial service celebrating John’s life will be at 2:00 PM on Sunday, August 13, 2023 at Life.Church South Broken Arrow, 5801 S. Elm Place, Broken Arrow, OK 74011.

Family and friends may share memories online at www.brownfamilycares.com. The family of John W. Crawford entrusted his care and cremation to Brown Funeral Home & Cremations, 210 S. Broadway, Coweta, OK 74429, 918-486-5515.

"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."  Philippians 1:20-21