Bill Crawford — 1934-2016

Bill Crawford

Billy “Bill” Crawford passed away on Nov. 25, 2016, in Reno after a brief illness with his family at his side. Bill lived in South Lake Tahoe for 49 years. During that time, he taught in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District and served two terms on the South Lake Tahoe City Council.

Bill loved his family, the mountains, skiing, and poetry.

He is survived by his wife, Jonnie; his children Marlowe, Paul and David; and granddaughter Caitlin. Bill requested no funeral or memorial service; the family is honoring his wish.

Bill was born in Little Rock, Ark., in 1934. A child of the Depression, the Crawford extended family of Blytheville, Ark., moved west and settled in Torrance in the greater Los Angeles area.

As a young man, he was an accomplished athlete, a champion quarterback and baseball player in the Los Angeles metro area during the 1950s. As quarterback of the 1954 El Camino Junior College football team he led El Camino to the Los Angeles Metro League Championship, and was named most valuable player of the Los Angeles Metro League. In 1973, he was inducted into the El Camino Junior College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Later in life he would enjoy running marathons, fishing, rock climbing, and alpine and cross country skiing.

In 1954, Bill married the love his life, Jonnie Brock of Inglewood, in the Wayfarer’s Chapel in Palos Verdes. They started a family and lived in Mojave, and Diamond Springs near Placerville before eventually settling in South Lake Tahoe in 1967.

Bill was an English teacher at South Tahoe High School and Mt. Tallac Continuation High School from 1967 to the late 1980s. Aside from teaching English at Mt. Tallac, he also taught subjects such as astronomy and orienteering. At South Tahoe High he also coached for the football and ski teams.

A teacher at heart, on weekends in the winter season in the 1970s and 1980s, he also taught cross country skiing in Meyers. There he taught everyone from your typical Tahoe tourist to Navy Seals the basics of cross country skiing. As a ski instructor he also guided Boy Scout troops on ski camping trips to Meiss Meadow near Carson Pass.

Bill also loved the city of South Lake Tahoe. He was concerned about local issues and voiced his concerns about the direction of the city. He was prolific in writing letters to the editor and served two terms as a city councilman.

In his spare time, Bill wrote poetry, a verse every two or three days for well over three decades. It was his form of meditation.

Bill is loved by his family, and he will be missed.