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TRIBUTE TO CHIEF BISHOP MELVIN L. CRAWFORD
WHEREAS, Almighty God in His Infinite Wisdom has rewarded Chief Bishop Melvin L. Crawford with eternal lire after almost four score and 13 years of this temporal life spent devoted to His service; and
WHEREAS, Bishop Crawford started life on October 5, 1920 in Clarksdale, Mississippi as the youngest of 10 children born to the union of the late Leah and Mose Crawford. His father, who owned a grocery and a farm, died when he was four but the example of entrepreneurship the elder Crawford set lead young Melvin to work hard and save enough to buy his mother a house ten years later; and
WHEREAS, In his early 20s, Bishop Crawford came lo Chicago on the back of his sister's truck with three suits and a belief that things were going to get better as indeed it did. He met and married his evangelist wife, Beatrice Holmes, in 1934, a well-educated and God-fearing woman. Their 55-year marriage ended only with her transition on Easter Sunday, 1989, Their union was blessed with four children, all of whom preceded him in passing; and
WHEREAS. Like so many young men of his generation. Bishop Crawford enlisted in the United States Army to serve in a medical unit behind enemy lines during World War II. After returning home unscathed, he reflected on why he was spared after so many had perished. Shortly thereafter, he and his family found fellowship with the Church of the Living God, Pillar and Ground of the Truth; and
WHEREAS, Education was important to Bishop Crawford. He attended Miller's Business College and Culinary School. The knowledge from this education was used in his many business ventures. Like his father, Bishop Crawford purchased a grocery store and, in addition, a Tastee Freeze. However, heeding the call found in the biblical passage of Mark 10:21, "Go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come, follow Me"; and
WHEREAS, Bishop Crawford took money out of the family savings for...
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