Crawford, Willie

Pastor of 2 Pine Barren Assoc. churches dies

Willie Crawford, pastor of two Pine Barren Baptist Association churches, died Sept. 3. He was 91.

During his 60-year ministry, Crawford served as pastor of churches in Tuscaloosa, Pickens and Wilcox counties. He began his ministry as a bivocational pastor when he was working at B.F. Goodrich in Tuscaloosa.

While working and raising a family, he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the International Bible Institute in Orlando, Florida. The Navy veteran also attended New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

After retiring from B.F. Goodrich, he continued to serve as a pastor. Even up to his death, Crawford served as pastor of two churches, splitting his Sundays between Bethsaida Baptist Church, Furman, and McWilliams Baptist Church, which met monthly. He had been with McWilliams Baptist since 1990 and Bethsaida Baptist since 2003.

Other churches he served during his ministry include Cross Roads Baptist Church, Carrollton, and Friendship Baptist Church, Pine Apple.

Crawford was preceded in death by two sons, Gary and George, and two grandsons, Anthony and Michael Cauthen. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn; six children; 14 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. (TAB)