Gary Wade Crawford

FLORENCE - Gary Wade Crawford, age 80, died on Sunday, March 19, 2023. A native of Greer, South Carolina, he was born on December 23, 1942, the son of the late Benjamin Columbus Crawford and Ruby Bradburn Crawford. He was a 1961 graduate of Greer High School, where he was on the golf team and served as student body president his senior year. He received a B.A. in English in 1965 from Presbyterian College, where he was student body vice-president and president of Mu Chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He received his J.D. degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1972, and later, in 1980, received a Masters in Law and Taxation from the Marshall Wythe School of Law of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Prior to entering private law practice, he worked as an Estate and Gift Tax Attorney with the Internal Revenue Service in Columbia and later worked for Senator Strom Thurmond in the U.S. Senate as Assistant Minority Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. In 1980 he entered the private practice of law in the field of taxation and related law as a solo practitioner in Florence. With the able assistance of Becky, his beloved wife, companion, and paralegal, Gary’s work in the practice of law was blessed by having many wonderful clients for whom he and Becky were privileged to do work for 43 years. They were also blessed by being able to help the less fortunate whom they encountered throughout his career. Those who knew Gary will remember him as a humble, kind, generous man who was always jovial to be around.

Among the many activities that Gary enjoyed were golfing, attending and watching the USC Gamecock football games, writing, and teasing his children and grandchildren. He was a long time member of the Florence Country Club, the Country Club of South Carolina, and Wachesaw Plantation Club. He was a member of Central United Methodist Church, the Florence County Bar Association, and the President of the H. M. and Pearl Kyle Foundation. Gary was a veteran of the US Army, having been honorably discharged in 1969 as a First Lieutenant in the Field Artillery. He was a Vietnam combat veteran and was awarded the Vietnam Service and Campaign Medals and the Bronze Star Medal. Surviving family members in addition to his loving wife of 54 years, Rebecca Henderson Crawford, are his daughters, MaryBeth Crawford Knobel of Anderson (Carter) and Shelly Crawford Walker of Greenville (John). He was preceded in death by their beloved son, Wade, who passed away in 2022. Also surviving him were the late great joys of his life, whom, in their early childhood years, he called “Life’s Little Mulligans,” his five grandchildren, Crawford, Burns and Hall Knobel, all of Anderson, and John and Caroline Walker of Greenville. He was also survived by two brothers, Larry K. Crawford (Rachel) of Greer, Ben C. Crawford, Jr. (Marcy) of Deland, Florida and a sister, Rebecca C. Barton, of Buford, Georgia.

Visitation will be held Saturday, March 25, 2023, at Waters Powell Funeral Home from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. A memorial service celebrating Gary’s life will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 26, 2023, at Central United Methodist Church. Becky and the girls will be in the Commons Area immediately following the service to receive friends.

Memorials may be made to the Florence County Gamecock Club for the Wade H. Crawford Scholarship, in care of Keith Buckhouse, 401 Woodvale Drive, Florence, SC 29501.

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Visitation

Saturday, March 25, 2023
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Waters-Powell Funeral Home
400 S Dargan Street
Florence, South Carolina 29506

Memorial Service

Sunday, March 26, 2023
4:00 PM

Central United Methodist Church
265 W. Cheves Street
Florence, South Carolina 29501

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