Louie Crighton

This obituary was lovingly submitted by Louie's family.

Dad was born Louie Hemry in Detroit, Michigan on May 29, 1942. When he was young his parents divorced and later in his teen years he was adopted by his step-father Colin (Charlie) Crighton and took his name to be Louie Colin Crighton. Dad was in military school for his high school years which taught him discipline and prepared him for joining the Air Force when he was older. He joined the US Air Force in April of 1961 and was a guard at a base in Puerto Rico until he was discharged in 1964. He had his first date with our mom on Cousin Jimmy Ranella’s 1st birthday party April 23, 1965. They planned a September wedding of that same year, but 2 weeks before the wedding date, they eloped on August 21, 1965.

Dad was a factory worker beginning with Dodge Main plant then moving to Ford for about one year then later was hired into Chrysler at the Sterling Stamping plant. He was a hard worker, working through his vacation days for extra money for his family. He loved 3 things during his working years: a cold Pepsi in a glass bottle, his recliner and the TV remote control. He retired after working for Chrysler over 30 + years.

Dad loved watching a few things on TV- wrestling, westerns and war movies. He loved motorcycles and had a few over the years.

Dad accepted Christ as his personal savior and was baptized as a young adult at Redeemer Baptist church by Pastor Braun. He was a member of both Redeemer Baptist Church and later Cornerstone Baptist church. His favorite hymn is Amazing Grace.

Dad liked to deer hunt but when times were tight in the early 80’s with the recession, he pawned his hunting rifle and bow for groceries. That was dad, he sacrificed for his family without a second thought.

Dad planned to travel with mom after he retired but 4 years after retirement, he suffered an aortic dissection that almost took his life at that time. Most people would not have survived that. The doctors told us that most people who do survive only live, at the most, 5 years- but dad went on for 20 more years. Then in 2015 dad was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. Most people who have this awful disease live no more than 2 years from diagnosis, but dad hung on for 6 more years. Yes, he’s a fighter.

Many who know our dad will tell you about his humor. He always had some witty joke or saying at just the right moment to bring on a laugh. He was a great storyteller and spent many times with grandkids on his lap telling stories that he made up but some were loosely about his young life as a “Dennis the Menace” kind of kid. We used to live next to my uncle Jim and aunt Arlene and dad would like to mess around with our cousin Jimmy chasing him over fences and around yards. He was the kind of dad that played flashlight tag at night with us when our mom worked evenings. Later, dad’s humor rubbed off on us kids. Once or twice when he was sleeping in his recliner at night, we would set his alarm watch to go off at 8 pm, turn the TV to a static channel and hid behind the chair. Dad would wake up thinking it was 8 am, was late for work, and would jump out of the chair, race to the bedroom to change his clothes. When he found us laughing at him, the joke was up. The punishment for us was to stand in the corner for a long while- it was so worth it!

Dad and mom loved tobogganing. We had a five-person toboggan and used it often when we were young kids. They went once when mom was pregnant with Larry and didn’t know it yet- that explains a lot about why Larry is what he is- Just kidding!

Dad liked camping and I think that is where all of us got our love for camping. One memory of camping was a trip down to Florida one summer. We were at a campground in Tennessee, and it was getting dark. Dad had to plug in the electric and hose for water and then we could get ready for bed. He came in after a short time and mom asked why the lights were not working. Dad’s reply was “there is a huge spider by the hook up box, so I don’t think we need electric, just go to sleep and soon it will be morning” yep, dad did not like spiders! Later that trip in the middle of the night we were woke up from baby Stephen crying outside the pop-up camper from rolling out of the bunk through the canvas to the ground. That explains a lot about of why Stephen is the way he is- Just kidding. . . again.

Dad loved fourth of July and fireworks. He also was a smoker. He liked to light the firecrackers with his cigarette. One time he got a little distracted and threw the cigarette and kept the firecracker. It didn’t end well with a burnt finger.

Dad’s favorite side kick was his dog Spanky. Dad loved dogs in general and dogs loved dad. Whenever someone brought their dog over to the house the dog would go straight to dad and on his lap. It was hard on dad when he lost Spanky last year at age 13.

Dad loved cars and riding in cars. Our parents spent many days going for long drives. A favorite was going to Port Huron to watch the freighters go by or driving down Lakeshore Drive in Grosse Pointe to look at the water. They loved to drive up north to our family property and drive around at dusk shining the woods for deer and wildlife. They would also drive to visit Curt and Beth when they lived in the Chicago area and now in Grand Rapids. When Curt and Beth’s kids would spend a week in the summer at the grandparents’ house, they would go for a long drive and get snacks and blare the radio. One favorite song was “I love Bread and Butter” from the 60’s. An early memorable car trip was when Beth was a newborn and they decided to visit family in Chicago and Beth cried non-stop the whole car trip from Warren to Chicago. Thankfully Beth was not left on the side of the road due to tired, stressed, road weary young parents!

Mom and Dad just had their 56th anniversary on August 21, 2021. Dad’s last wishes were to be at home when he passed as he knew the pulmonary fibrosis had no cure. After 6 long years he was at home under Hospice care with mom along with his children and grandchildren at his side.

He is survived by his wife Sandra Joy (Ranella) Crighton, daughter Beth (Curt) Wiegand, and sons Larry (Dawn) Crighton and Stephen (Lisa) Crighton. He is also survived by 8 grandkids, Brandon, Benjamin(Lauren), Lauren(Josh), Nathan, Zachary(Emma), Stevie, Jake, and Allie, and great grandson Hayden.

Visitation for Louie will occur from 5:00pm-8:00pm on Wednesday, August 25, 2021 at A.H. Peters Funeral Home, 32000 Schoenherr Rd., Warren (Schoenherr/Masonic). A Funeral Service will be held at 10:00am on Thursday, August 26, 2021 at Cornerstone Baptist Church 17017 E. Twelve Mile Rd., Roseville. Visitation at church begins at 9:00am.