Extraordinary LIVES
I DON’T remember a time without my uncle Crawford. The younger brother of my dad, he never forgot a birthday and was always there in a crisis. A big man in height and girth, he joked that the doctor prescribed him the same medication as a racehorse. Even as a child, he was a stickler for manners, grammar and obeying the rules. His school insisted the boys wore their caps at all times, but most removed theirs on the way home. Dad remembers looking down the bus and seeing one boy wearing his cap while all around were capless — it was Crawford, of course. After he graduated from Queen’s University, Belfast, he taught mathematics at Belfast High School. For more than 30 years, he was patient and encouraging, especially to those who found maths difficult. He enjoyed all sports and coached school squash and tennis teams to victory. Photography and quizzes were other passions. A kind and sensitive person, he carried on living in the family home to look after his mother when his father died suddenly. No one had a better carer — cooking her delicious meals and
keeping her mentally stimulated with Scrabble, card games, crosswords and shared interests in classical music and literature. Crawford took early retirement at 55 to spend more time with his mother, but she sadly passed away within a few weeks. Slowly, Crawford started to live. He was persuaded to go on holiday with my parents to the Lake District, where he began a conversation with Helen, a divorcee from Brighton. He discovered they shared backgrounds and interests. Two years later, they were married. How he enjoyed the final chapter of his life. He told me he thought he had been content in his life with his mother, but did not realise the happiness that could be reached with his wife. They enjoyed 17 years of married bliss before his diagnosis of cancer of the oesophagus. How cruel that a man who enjoyed good food should lose the ability to swallow at the end. Throughout the short, brutal course of his illness, Crawford was stoic, humble and his faith never faltered. He passed away on Christmas Eve with his family around him. How we miss the big man with the big heart, a devoted husband, son, brother, brother-inlaw, uncle, great uncle and friend.