Wallace (Wally) Crawford Jr, age 97, passed peacefully with his family by his side on Jan 8, 2023, athospice after a very short illness. He is preceded in death by his loving wife of 66 years, AntoinetteCrawford and his daughter, Patricia Crawford. He is survived by his 3 children, William, Douglas (Sheryl)and Robert (Lorie) along with his grandchildren Alyssa Johnson (Chris), Jennifer Balthaser, Kyle (Nikki) &Brittany Crawford, Patrick & Blake Crawford. His great grandchildren, Christopher & Adam Johnson,Jack Crawford and his sister-in-law, Rebecca Celano.He was born in New York City Jan 7, 1926, where he met Ann, and they had 3 children. When he was 16he joined the Civil Air Patrol, by age 17 he joined the Air Cadet program then was called to duty mid-waythrough his senior year of high school. He had all the courses needed to graduate so he joined the AirForce where he served in WWII. After that he became an auxiliary Fire Chief in East Farmingdale withthe NY Fire Department. In the 1960's he was relocated to Florida for his job where they had their lastson.Wally was the patriarch of his family, spending his last full day with us on his 97th birthday. Heparticipated in all our lives and brought joy to us right until then. He was always a hard, dedicatedworker first with GTE, Sperry and then 20 years at the Alachua County School Board as head of thefacilities department.He was a long-standing member of St Patrick's Catholic Church and was a project manager for their newchurch building after he retired. He was a talented artist, a pilot and enjoyed sailing. He always had asmile on his face, a generous heart and a positive outlook on everything.A Memorial Mass will be held for Wally on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2023, at 1:00 at St Patrick's Catholic Churchwith a short reception to follow. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to Haven Hospice. Funeral Home Forest Meadows Funeral Home 725 NW 23rd Avenue Gainsville FL - 32609 US 352-378-2528