Obituaries / LJWorld.com

Obituaries

Funeral services for John P. Crown, 86, Lawrence, will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Trinity Episcopal Church. Graveside services with military honors will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery.Mr. Crown died on Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, at his home.He was born on Nov. 19, 1922, in Smith Center, the son of Ernest O. and Sarah L. Armistead Crown.Mr. Crown served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the 103rd Infantry. He served in the European Theater, and received the European Theater Ribbon with three silver stars.He graduated from Central College in McPherson and later attended Kansas University.He was a former executive vice president of sales for the Lawrence Paper Company, where he was employed from 1947 until his retirement in 1987.Mr. Crown received the Distinguished Service Award from the Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) in 1956. He served three terms on the Lawrence City Commission from 1951 to 1957, and was mayor from 1955 to1957. While mayor, he made the first official long distance phone call from Lawrence to television news anchor John Cameron Swayze in 1955. He was president of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce from 1971 to 1972. In 1988, he received the Bert Nash Pioneer Award. He was a former member of the board of directors for the Lawrence National Bank.He was a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church and served on the vestry there. He also held positions in the church as junior and senior warden, lay reader and chalice bearer. He was a member of American Legion Dorsey-Liberty Post 14.He married Irma Jeanne Shields on Jan. 30, 1944, in Lawrence. She survives, of the home.Other survivors include a daughter, Paula Meuffel and husband Dennis, Lawrence; a son, Robert A. and wife Carole, Lawrence; a sister, Mary Ruth Steinert, Everett, Wash.; and three grandchildren, Jennifer Meuffel, Paul Crown and Erika Crown.The family will greet friends from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Warren-McElwain Mortuary.The family suggests memorials to Trinity Episcopal Church or to the Douglas County Visiting Nurses, Rehabilitation and Hospice Care, sent in care of the mortuary.Online condolences may be sent at warrenmcelwain.com, subject: John Crown.