Louis L. Crawford ’48

Lou was born March 12, 1926, in St. Louis and attended St. Louis Country Day School. After Army Air Force service, he majored in chemical engineering at Princeton, graduated in 1949, and then earned an MBA at the University of Chicago.

The Crawfords lived for many years in Illinois and then in Michigan. Heading his own firm, Lou was an entrepreneur and innovator in food-processing equipment and operations. He launched or advised companies in this field in the United States and in many other countries, especially developing nations.

Lou was a prolific artist; he created hundreds of paintings, mobiles, and woodcarvings. He was also an avid blueberry farmer. Lou and his two wives, Joan Ashley and Courtney Coolidge — both of whom he outlived — together were parents and/or step-parents of three children, Lou Jr., Constance Schmitz, and Rebecca Gray; five step-children; seven grandchildren; 12 step-grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren. Lou died April 8, 2017, in hospice at an assisted-living facility in Kalamazoo, Mich.