Birth date: Aug 12, 1941 Death date: Dec 17, 2025
On Wednesday December 17, 2025, Donald “Don” Crawford passed away in his sleep. Don was born on August 12, 1941, in Yuma, Arizona to Virginia Lucille Stubblefield and Glenn Herbert Crawford. Don remained close to his siblings an Read Obituary
When Don turned 16 years old in August and got his driver’s license, our mother encouraged if not arranged for him and another 16 years old friend to take Don’s 12 year old twin brothers Richard and Raymond on a very complex and difficult journey from Yuma to Disneyland in Anaheim; about a 6 hour rugged ride through the miserably hot desert, through San Diego and Los Angeles without much directions or maps. In 1957, Disneyland had just opened and was a remote area surrounded by miles of dirt where roads were still being dozed and construction was crazy in every direction. However, the experience at Disneyland was truly magical for kids from Yuma. We had a great time for two days on every ride and show at the park. Once we arrived back in Yuma, we were greeted with incredibly shocking news that our mother, while we were gone, had eloped to Las Vegas and married Elmo Jensen whom we had only met once before we left.
When our grandmother, Ada Stubblefield celebrated her 80th birthday in Yuma, Don, Raymond and Richard gathered in Anaheim in Don’s car with his pop-up trailer in tow. Once In Yuma, we carefully selected the most undesirable location to pitch the trailer; a barren desert dirt plot of about10 square miles on the edge of Yuma along with hundreds of other mobile and motor homes. All was well until dusk when we settled in for a night’s sleep before the party day. As the wind picked up and began to howl, the canvas on the trailer began to flutter then exploded out to its limit. Within seconds, the canvas imploded with a bone-crushing sound. Every few seconds, as if on a schedule, the explosions and implosions continued all night. By about 4:45 a.m. the sun was just beginning to rise in its glory and it was time to head to the one-and-only concrete outhouse about 100 yards away. By 5:00 a.m. when we were leaving the privy, as it is called, the temperature was already about 98 degrees and increasing by the minute. Some men had already gathered to play shuffleboard next to the outhouse.
Don, the 11 year old, engineered the first ever Sears and Roebuck refrigerator box-mobile on a hot summer morning in Yuma Arizona. Don had a little help from his friend and pit-crew, also 11 years old as they used several somewhat twisted 2X4’s, some scrap lumber, a discarded carboard refrigerator carton, some nails and screws, and four tricycle wheels, somehow borrowed from the neighbor kids, They hammered and sawed until the thing rolled off the one-of-a-kind assembly line. With Don proudly perched inside the box on the front with his feet planted on the pivoted scrap wood for steering the front wheels he gingerly guided the rolling box through the neighborhood streets in Yuma. Don’s twin seven-year-old brothers powered from behind for all they were worth to reach amazing speed. by Rich Crawford, Don's brother
One of Dads favorite refrigerator magnets - I love all my children
He always made sure to specify that it might have been originally created for the TV soap opera, but he meant it truly for all of us.
