THE CRECELIUS FAMILY

 A CHRONOLOGY

 

 

1963 – Doris died April 15 of heart failure at the age of 40. She had sponsored a small annual award at Francisco High School for the Home Economics Student of the Year from 1946-1962.

 

1967 – The 4th generation of Henry and Maude’s family began with the birth of a girl – their first great-grandchild.

 

1970 – Maude died December 13 of cancer at the age of 78.

 

1970 – Randy’s niece (who was born in 1947), Marsha, named her first child, a girl, Randa, in honor of Randy. Randa was born December 19, 1970—exactly 27 years after Randy died.

 

1983 – On February 26, Oakland City College honored Henry as their “Sportsman of the Year”.  All of Henry’s family attended the ceremony at the Oakland City High School Gymnasium where OCC played their basketball games at that time. 

 

1983 – On April 8, Henry started an endowment at Oakland City College (now Oakland City University) to sponsor a scholarship in Randy’s name. The scholarship will continue to bear Randy’s name for as long as OCU remains an institution of higher learning. It has helped a student each year since its inception. Henry made several criteria “requests” for scholarship recipients, including: resident of Gibson County, Indiana; good citizen of his home, his school and his community; possesses good attitude; has high morals; and well-disciplined. Henry surely listed traits that he saw in Randy.

 

          1992 – Henry died April 9 at the age of 97.

 

          1995 – Bob died November 7 of cancer at the age of 68.

 

1996 – Francisco Grade School – Stanley Young, principal, honored the six servicemen from Center Township (Francisco High School) who died in World War II.  Mr. Young developed a program to dedicate the entrance to the school to these men.  A few family members of each of the honorees attended the ceremony.  The six who were honored that day, with a picture placed at the school entrance, were Paul V. Beasley, John W. Harbison, Darwin I. Maxam, Bertis C. McConnell, Glen Hasselbrink and……William Randall Crecelius.

                  

2003 – On December 6, a group in Australia held a memorial at the exact site of the “Canal Creek” crash. (Notes and pictures of the memorial are included in this document.) The organizer was Mary O’Brien of the Capricorn Coast Historical Society Association in Australia. Peter Murray and Cheryl Cooper, both of Australia, have, along with Mary and several others, been a great help to me over the years as I have tried to research this tragedy. They have very generously allowed the use of their pictures and written materials on this site.

 

2004 – As a gift for Steve McDevitt’s 60th birthday, his family made a donation in his name to the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis for the purpose of including a “Face of Indiana” display honoring Randy. Steve submitted Randy’s picture and a brief write-up for this display, which serves as a small memorial to him. It will remain in the museum in perpetuity.

 

2006 – On November 20, Fairview Church burned to the ground. It was rebuilt in 2008.

 

2008 – Francisco Grade School – The new school administration (after Stanley Young’s retirement) removed the pictures of those the school had honored in 1996. Stanley returned each of the pictures that had been on display in the school entrance to local family members. He presented Randy’s picture to Steve McDevitt.

 

2012 – Jim Crecelius passed away in April.  Margaret continues to reside in Indiana.

 

2013 – Steve McDevitt died on January 19.