Glen Morgan Crewson

Glen was a faithful husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and dedicated his life to the service of his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He was an active member of West Highland Baptist Church and Delta Tabernacle in Hamilton, often serving on their boards as well as being instrumental in their building programs and bus ministries. Glen graduated from the Ryerson Institute of Technology in Toronto in 1956 as a chemist and spent his entire career of 36 years working for Stelco Steel in Hamilton, initially in water treatment and later in power plant operations. He was instrumental in introducing several automated water treatment systems and in the conversion of boiler and power plant operations into the computer age.

Glen married his high school sweetheart, Elda, the day after his graduation from Ryerson and they spent 64 years together before her passing in 2021. His greatest joys were spending time with Elda in the outdoors, skiing, hiking, backpacking and camping. It brings us great joy and comfort to imagine their joyful reunion.

Mourning his loss yet rejoicing in his heavenly gain are his three children, Dave (Terri) Crewson, Linda (John) Robinson and Stephen (Tracy) Crewson, grandchildren Heather (John) Gayford, Ben (Stephanie) Robinson, Emily (Nathan) Walker, Evan (Shawna) Robinson, Shannon (Tom) Crewson, Morgan (Emily) Crewson, Kaela (Ryan) Allison, Micah (Katrina) Crewson, Rebekkah Crewson and great-grandchildren, Zoe, Theo, Savannah, and Violet Robinson, Claire, Alexa, Tessa, and Eve Gayford, Riley and Reid Robinson, Daniel Walker, and Elizabeth Crewson, brother Jim (Joan) Crewson, sister-in-law Betty Crewson, brother-in-law Don McMillan and many nieces and nephews.

Glen was the third of four sons born into the home of Archie and Elsie Crewson of Owen Sound. He recalled many happy days growing up in this community where the outdoors was their playground. He spent many winter days trudging through the snow to school, hoping that the pot-bellied stove would not work upon their arrival so they could return home to play in the snow. They used the roads from the quarry to the old asphalt plant for downhill skiing and built an ice rink at an old quarry near their home. They also built a ball diamond in their backyard with help from their friends, cutting down dozens of cedar trees to use as a backstop, marking their bases with powdered lime and with Glen sewing the bases from burlap bags. He kept 2 softballs and restitched them as needed, making them look new again with his mom’s white shoe polish. They even built a lacrosse field in an empty lot next to the asphalt plant, using old truck cabs as change rooms, made the nets and marked their boundaries with lime.

Glen attended high school at the Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute. In grade 10, the school supplied the students with brand new trumpets, drums and uniforms for an Army Cadet Band. Glen joined the band and played trumpet during his next 4 years of high school and had the privilege of marching in parades and serving at cenotaphs in Owen Sound and the many little towns around. After graduation, the high school band leader asked Glen to form a new band, which became the 19th Field Ambulance Reserve Army Band. Glen played with that band for a couple of years after high school. Glen decided to attend university after high school, however, he did not have the necessary funds, so he took a job at the RCA Victor factory in Owen Sound for one year, helping manufacture wooden cabinets for their TVs. He counted himself fortunate to have found this job as it was at a time when jobs were scarce.

In the fall of 1953, Glen entered the 3-year Research Chemistry program at Ryerson Institute of Technology in Toronto. He was a good student and picked up one of the top scholarships that more than covered his tuition expenses. He also worked a part-time job while studying but spent most of his university days living on 2 meals a day or on the cookies that his girlfriend, Elda, would mail to him. During his last summer as a student, he worked 6 days / week running a bottler in a dairy and earning $40 / week.

Glen was fortunate to begin working at Stelco in May of 1956, working first in the combustion engineering department, then the water treatment plant and eventually moving to the Central Power Station. He enjoyed this area of work and was allowed to think freely and apply his ideas. He was involved in the engineering and expansion of 3 boiler feedwater treatment plants. He did studies on the selection of alloys for condenser heat exchanger tubing and saw these brought into use with tremendous savings in labour and material cost. Eventually Glen was put in charge of all operations in the Central Power Station and bay water pumping stations. He enjoyed his work, but decided it was time to retire in 1992.

Glen and Elda raised 3 children, Dave, Linda and Steve, in a home they bought in 1959 and lived in for the next 48 years. Glen coached Dave’s little league hockey team, and had a pool built in the backyard for the family. Their family interests centered around cycling, cross country skiing, skating, hiking, camping and swimming. Summer vacations were spent travelling in Canada and the US with their tent trailer. When the kids were grown, Glen and Elda enjoyed several holidays on their loaded tandem bicycle, travelling as many as 100 km in a day. They also began back-woods backpacking, hiking with 40- and 50-pound backpacks filled with their tent, bromine pills (to treat water), snake bite kit, ropes for hanging their food, and Elda’s dehydrated meals. In 1994, they purchased a mobile home at Muskoka Bible Conference and spent the next 15 years enjoying the Bible teaching, friends and flower gardens at MBC.

Some of Glen’s proudest accomplishments were serving the Lord in various ministries at both Delta Tabernacle and West Highland Baptist Church. He served for 8 years as the Chairman of the bus ministry at Delta Tabernacle, picking up children within Hamilton and growing the Sunday School to 600 children. As chairman of the building committee, he was also instrumental in the construction of Delta’s new church, Paramount Drive Alliance Church. Glen first heard of West Highland through an employee and was amazed at their goals and vision. In the late 1980s, Glen and Elda began attending West Highland where he served 4 terms on the board of the church, serving as chairman and vice chairman for several of those years. He was involved in the development of position descriptions, church policies and the application for Incorporation of West Highland. Together with Elda they lead the JOY ministry for several years.

In some ways, Glen was the stereotypical male of his time as he wanted nothing more than a quiet house and his slippers upon arrival home from work, which Elda was happy to supply. However, he was not one to sit still for long! Glen was always busy and enjoyed fixing and puttering around the house, and during his years on the dementia ward at Chartwell, you could find him sweeping the dining room floor after a meal. When his kids were grown, Dad was the one they could call to come and help with a project around the house. In his retirement, he enjoyed crafting wood furniture on his Shopsmith, making beautiful pieces that still reside in the homes of his kids and grandkids.

In the last few years of his life, dementia stole our dad and granddad from us, but his personality still shone through. We are thankful for the strong love that Mom and Dad had for each other, even to the very end. After Dad retired, we knew that they joined together every morning to read the Bible and pray for each of us by name – children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren – as well as to pray for the concerns of their church family. It is a legacy of love and faith for which we are deeply grateful and that we will greatly miss.

“Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your Lord.” Matthew 25:23

Visitation for Glen will be held at CRESMOUNT FUNERAL HOME, 322 Fennell Avenue E. on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 from 2-4pm & 7-9pm. A celebration of Glen’s life will take place in the funeral home chapel on Wednesday, February 26, 2025 at 1pm. Interment to follow at Glanbrook Cemetery, 4350 Binbrook Rd, Binbrook, Ontario. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to West Highland Baptist Church, Hamilton. Special thanks to the staff at St. Joseph’s Villa for your care for Dad and our family as we traversed Glen’s last days.

Online condolences can be left at cresmountfennellchapel.com