George Jacoby Crawfod

Funeral service for George Jacoby Crawford, 79, Lawrence will be held at 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lawrence. Burial will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery. He passed away Friday, June 3, 2016 at his home.
George was born May 10, 1937 in Athens, Ohio the son of Theodore Mansfield and Marvella Jacoby Crawford. Raised in the Hocking Hills of southeastern Ohio, he excelled at singing and majored in voice at Ohio University. He taught choir and elementary school in St. Marys, West Virginia and Colgate Ohio, respectively. His talent for leadership noted by his superiors, George was offered positions as principal of Fort Harmer Elementary School and Marietta High School in Marietta, Ohio. He was vice principal of Athens High School and received his masters of Education at Ohio University. Offered a doctoral fellowship to Ohio State University, he received his PhD and was offered a position at KU in 1972, and headed for places West where he was a professor of Educational Administration at the University of Kansas from 1972 until he retired on May 16, 2011. George took a one year unpaid sabbatical from KU to serve as principal of Centennial Elementary, an experience he found rejuvenating. An advisor in the administration of northeast Kansas schools, he was fond of his affiliation with J.C. Harmon high school in Kansas City. He was National President of the International Society for Educational Planning from 1990­1991. A member of
Lutheran Church, George served on the Lawrence School Board, the Citizens Review Board for Douglas County juvenile court cases, and was a former member of the Lawrence Civic Choir, in which capacity he and his wife Beth travelled to and performed in Poland.
He married Maribeth Kirchhoff on August 4, 1979 in Lawrence, KS. She survives of the home.
Other survivors include two daughters, Susan Crawford of Kansas City, KS; Carolyn Crawford Chase and husband, Kelly of Virginia Beach, VA; one son, George A. Crawford and wife, Traci of Poolesville, MD; one sister, Jessie Essex of Athens, Ohio; six grandchildren, Kaitlin Crawford, Heather Crawford, Kasey Clemens; Travis Chase, Alec Chase and Bailey Chase. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Angela Nell Adkins and his sister, Jean McAfee.
The family will greet friends from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at Warren­McElwain Mortuary.
Online condolences may be sent to www.warrenmcelwain.com.
Please sign this guestbook at Obituaries.LJWorld.com.