Dr. Felix Crawford (Plainview)

Dr. Felix C. Crawford, DDS, the Texas Dental Association’s 119th president (1988-1989), was born in Midland, Texas on January 11, 1938. He passed away on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 in Lubbock. His father, Marshall Crawford, was a Firestone tire dealer and owned a home and auto supply. The family business was moved to Lamesa, Texas in 1942. There, his mother, Lela Mary Crawford, worked in the Dawson county district Court House as a deputy tax collector. Dr. Crawford attended the Lamesa public schools and began to consider various professions for a life career. The family dentist, Dr. H.M. Strover, encouraged him to consider dentistry, and influence that led to the decision to attend college to major in pre-dentistry. He attended Texas Technological College (now Texas Tech University) in Lubbock, followed by the University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston (UTDB) where he graduated in 1963. Stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, Felix served two years in the U.S. Army after graduation from UTBD. He then began dental practice in Plainview, Texas in 1965. Dr. Crawford is married to Dr. Marian Perry Crawford, and educator. He has two children; a daughter, Christin Kay Gray and her husband Floyd Eric of Mansfield, Texas; and a son, Boyd William Crawford and his wife April of Mansfield, Texas. He is also survived by two stepsons, Ross and Lee Perry; three grandchildren, Austin Crawford, Blake Crawford, and Dillon Gray all of Mansfield; one sister, Camilla Young of Chalfont, PA; and a brother, Marshall Crawford of Houston, Texas. Community service for Dr. Crawford included presidencies of the Plainview Chamber of Commerce, the Plainview Country Club, the Plainview Rotary Club, and the Plainview Toastmasters Club, as well as chairman of the Plainview-Hale County Board of Health and secretary of staff of the former Central Plains Regional Hospital. He has also served as coach for YMCA soccer, tiger league football, and little league baseball, as well as president of the Edgemere PTA. Dr. Crawford served as president of his local South Plains District Dental Society in 1979-1980. At the state level, he was a delegate to the TDA House of Delegates. He was a member of the Texas Dental Association’s (TDA) Council on Legislative Affairs and chaired DENPAC (state political action committee) from 1982-1989. After service on the TDA Board of Directors, Dr. Crawford was elected president of the TDA for 1988-1989. In Addition to his other service, Dr. Crawford was also instrumental in the establishment in 1990 of the Texas Dental Association Foundation to promote advancement of health care through continuing education for Texas dentists. Dr. Crawford was a delegate to the ADA House of Delegates, and a member of the original ADA Committee on Chemical Dependency Issues. He was the national ADPAC chairman for two years. He served as Second Vice President of the American Dental Association, 2001-2002. Funeral services are scheduled for 2:00 P.M. Friday, January 26, 2007 at First United Methodist Church with Dr. Lewis Holland and Dr. Max Browning officiating. Burial will follow in Plainview Memorial Park under the direction of Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Plainview. A visitation will be held on Thursday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. at Kornerstone Funeral Directors. In lieu of flowers, the family suggest memorials can be made to the Felix Crawford Endowment Fund of Texas Dentists Association, Smiles Foundation, 1946 S IH-35 Ste 300, Austin, Texas 78704.