ROGER DENNIS CRAWFORD

Roger, age 80, passed away on December 3, 2024, at Providence Hospital and Medical Center in Everett, with his family by his side. He was born in Sedro­-Woolley, the oldest child of John R. Crawford, Jr. and Rosalie (Elliott) Crawford.

He graduated from Mount Vernon High School in 1962. Roger received his Journeyman Machinist certification from Skagit Valley College in 1964 and started working for Skagit Steel and Iron Works in Sedro-Woolley. When Skagit Steel (by then Bendix Corporation) shut down in the early 1990s, he went to work for Circle F Enterprises in Bellingham. He continued working as a machinist until poor health caused him to retire in late 2007.

In 1964, Roger met the love of his life, Sally Esary, at a service station in downtown Mount Vernon. She was 17 and he was 20. In 1965, Roger purchased his childhood home from his parents. It was the home his father and grandfather had built when his parents got married in 1942. Roger and Sally married in 1966 and lived there together for 58 years, raising three sons: Rob, Dennis and Jim.

Roger loved building and restoring cars. He restored a 1953 Chevy, affectionately dubbed "Turtle", which he may or may not have street raced in his younger years. He took special pride in restoring the 1965 Ford Mustang which he owned for 58 years before passing it on to his son Jim. Roger loved to take Sally, get in the Mustang on a weekend afternoon and go for long drives, just the two of them.

He enjoyed manufacturing things, and a special project was the replica Amtrak train he and his father, also a machinist, built in 1993. They had to rely on their combined knowledge and experience to complete the project, as there were no blueprints available to guide them. As members of The British Columbia Society of Steam Engineers, they were allowed to take the train to club events in Canada, even though it has a gas-powered engine. The engine has three passenger cars and Roger loved nothing better than to don his engineer's cap and take family and friends for rides around the track that he, his father, son Jim, and nephew Aaron laid around his property. Sally and Roger loved to host barbecues, and the train rides were the highlight of the day for their grandchildren and more than one neighborhood child (and a few adults if we're honest). All he had to do was start up the engine and sound that whistle and they knew they were in for a treat.

Roger loved motorcycles and he and Sally took frequent trips, sometimes riding thousands of miles. During the summers, he would load up the car and take his family on vacation, and they have album after album containing photos of their adventures.

He enjoyed trap shooting with his father and sons at the local shooting range. Roger would manufacture rifles for the sport in his workshop and spent many hours making custom stocks and loading his own ammunition.

He built cannons and would take them out to friends' country property and launch old bowling balls, and the odd pumpkin at Halloween, just to see how far they would travel (and how big a hole they would make). He also made smaller cannons that would launch golf balls.

Roger never missed a family reunion until this year and would bring out his best stories (some of them actually true) to entertain us.

He is survived by his loving wife, Sally, his son Jim (Julie), daughter-in-law Jodie, bonus son Mark (Nicole), sister Pam, sister Judy (Marvin). his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. He will also be remembered by Sally's sisters Nancy, Pee Wee (Tom), and brother David (Nancy) and Sally's sister-in-law Priscilla.

Roger was predeceased by his parents, his sons Rob and Dennis, brother­ in-law Ralph, and granddaughter-in-law Kristen.

At his direction, he was cremated and there will be no service.