Dr. William D. Crawley, 72, a native of Chattanooga, died on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2002, at a local hospital following complications from a fall.
Dr. Crawley had practiced medicine for 43 years and delivered three generations of babies, totalling over 5,000 babies.
He was a descendant of the Randolph, Gamble and Bolen familes of Virginia. He had been valedictorian of the class of 1948 of Red Bank High and graduated from the University of Chattanooga and was a member of the Beta Beta Beta scientific fraternity and Lambda Chi Alpha. He was a graduate of the University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis in 1955 and did his internship and residency in OB-Gyn at Erlanger. He did post graduate work with Grady Hospital and the Emory School of Medicine. He started his medical practice in Rossville, Ga., later moving to the Doctor's Building at Hutcheson Medical Center and to an office on Brainerd Road. He was a past president of the Walker-Catoosa-Dade Medical Society and a member of the Chattanooga Hamilton County Medical Society. He also served as Chief of Staff at Hutcheson Medical Center and was a member of the Tennessee Medical Association, the Medical Association of Georgia, the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chattanooga Obstetrical-Gynecological Society and the Southern Medical Association. Besides being on the staff at Hutcheson Medical Center, he was also on the staff at East Ridge Hospital, Memorial Hospital, Parkridge Hospital, and Baroness Erlanger Hospital.
He had served as a deacon at the Brainerd Church of Christ for 25 years and was currently a member of the East Brainerd Church of Christ.
Dr. Crawley was an avid painter. His articles on folk art have appeared in the Decorative Painter and in Better Homes and Gardens Decorative Woodcrafts magazine. He was a member of the National Society of Tole and Decorative Painters and the American Physicians' Art Association and won "Best of Show" at the art shows in Nashville 2001. He was a member of the Association of Visual Artists and currently has a watercolor in the Tinsel exhibit. He won an award in the AVA Show in September at the Hunter Art Gallery. He has Christmas ornaments which he designed and painted at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., the White House, and the Library of Congress. He was a member of the Dogwood Chapter of Tole and Decorative Artists in Atlanta and a member of the Southeast Tennessee Tolers in Cleveland, TN.
Survivors include his wife, Laura McManus Crawley to whom he had been married for 46 years, and two daughters, Carolyn Crawley of Chattanooga and Nancy Crawley Long (Mark) and granddaughter, Holly Long of Keller, Tx.
He was preceded in death by his parents, William Dukes Crawley, Sr. and Bertie Randolph Crawley.
Funeral services will be on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at East Brainerd Church of Christ. The service will be conducted by Dr. Gary Bradley of Huntsville, Al., and Ministers Glen Gray, Dave Mellor, and Tom Norvell of the East Brainerd Church of Christ.
Interment will be in Hamilton Memorial Gardens.
Memorial contributions may be made to the East Brainerd Church of Christ Building Fund or to a favorite charity.
The family will receive friends on Tuesday from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Home, East Brainerd.