Obituary of Vanderveer Reed Crawford

Obituary for Vanderveer “Van” Reed Crawford 

Vanderveer “Van” Reed Crawford, 68, of Lexington, South Carolina went to be with the Lord on June 16, 2021. Van passed away at his home in Lexington, SC. He was born March 19, 1953 in Columbia, SC to the late Newell D Crawford, Sr and Rochelle Scott Crawford. 

Van is survived by his loving wife, Susan Todd, of 25 years and children, Zackery James Crawford and Hannah Grace Crawford of Lexington. He is also survived by his siblings, Gloria C Douglass of Columbia, Newell D Crawford, Jr (Karen) of Greenville and Stephen S Crawford of Anderson and many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews. 

He graduated from D.W. Daniel High School in 1971 and Clemson University in 1979 with a BS in Zoology. In the 1970's, he worked with one of the first turtle rescue programs on Kiawah Island, where he encountered an angry bull raccoon who wanted to fight for the turtle eggs. Van went on to work with SCDHEC for 32 years as an Environmentalist, before retiring.

Van was a committed "bachelor to the rapture,” frequently a musician and vocalist at friend's weddings, and his family feared he would never marry. That was until he met Susan. Luckily for Susan, while single he had numerous roommates who taught him to be an excellent cook, roommate and skills to be an excellent spouse. 

Van was a loving father and enjoyed spending time with his kids, like camping, hiking along rivers or trails, fishing, hunting and crabbing.  They enjoyed ending the evenings in the tent with Van voicing the characters from Pat F. McManus books. Speaking of voices, his Donald Duck impersonations were the best. Van shared a quirky sense of humor with both of his kids as well as a love of music. Van continually marveled at Zack’s epic Lego creations and shared art and writing with Hannah Grace. 

Van helped most friends and left a lasting impression on friends and family regarding his love for the Lord.  Van frequently helped his sister, Gloria, with projects when she found herself biting off more than she could chew with home projects and Christmas trees. The Thanksgiving holiday was always special with his extended family at his brother, Newell Crawford's Lake Cherokee home.  Van was an avid Clemson football fan and loved sharing football games with his father-in-law, James Todd, an avid University of SC fan. Van also rehashed Clemson athletics highlights, especially football, with his brother, Stephen Crawford.  

Van was a founding member of Riverbend Community Church along with Robbie McAlister, Frank Sindler, and James Byers, where he served on the worship team, as a home group leader, deacon and D group co-leader with Shea Willis. He also traveled to Thailand to assist the worship team during a missionary conference. 

Van enjoyed fishing, camping, hiking, skeet, family night board games & cards, trips to beach with his family, cooking delicious meals never using a recipe. He also loved identifying birds and military planes, attending military air shows, supporting our country and our military. 

Van’s walk with the Lord was his first priority.  A foundational Bible passage for him was 2 Corinthians 5:6-9 “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord – for we walk by faith, not by sight – we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be home with the Lord.  Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him."

Van was an inspiration to all of us by the way he lived his life and dealt with his illness.

Please feel free to join us in person at Riverbend Community Church for a visitation Sunday, June 27, 2021 at 1:00pm, with Memorial Service following at 2:00pm, or join us by live-stream at www.RiverbendChurch.org.  

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in Van's memory to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society found at www.donate.lls.org, or to Riverbend Community Church, 1015 Corley Mill Road, Lexington, SC 29072.