Janie Crawley

December 21, 1927 - May 11, 2012

Ella Jane Crawley was born and raised in Pine Bluff, AR which became the backdrop for her childhood, youth, and love story. Working as a telephone operator in the small town she met a young man in army green, who became her husband for the next 62 years. The two married in June of 1950 and in the years to follow gave birth to a baby girl, Barbara Ann. Her husband, Cecil Ray Crawley, was deployed to Germany in 1952 and Janie, with a 6-month-old on her hip, followed him there soon after. This ruffled a few feathers back home, but nothing could keep her from her best friend and partner in crime. During their time oversees they traveled from Germany, to Paris, Switzerland and Italy. “We had a very good tour,” Cecil said. In 1955 they moved back to the states and Janie began to make a home for her soon to be growing family. In 1957, Jimmy Dale was born, and they brought him home to Howard Drive in Pine Bluff. They made roots in this town and raised their children in a loving home. The only thing that could take them away from this network of family and friends to the big city of Houston came wrapped in pink blankets—the birth of their granddaughters. Janie soon became known as mamaw and her whole world changed. She gave everything to her three grandbabies and for that they will be forever grateful.

After a trip to the ER in December 2010, Jane (mamaw) was diagnosed with Leukemia. She spent all spring having numerous tests run, blood drawn, and chemo treatments until she fell and broke her hip after a treatment in May 2011. After a hip replacement and countless hours of therapy with her devoted husband, she proved to be the fighter she has always been and was walking again by the end of summer. She rarely complained about her abrupt change of lifestyle and frequent trips to MD Anderson. She enjoyed life’s simple pleasures more than ever before—daily trips to McDonalds for apple pie and coffee, family meal gatherings, sitting in the yard watching Cecil garden and visits from all of her caring neighbors.

Her life began to change directions after having a stroke on April 15th, 2012. Even though her body was tired and ready to meet her Jesus, she continued giving of herself for another 4 weeks. She gave her family and friends time to come and say, “I love You and Good Bye” one more time. She didn’t need to do it, but she knew all of us did. Selfless, as always. In the early morning hours on May 11th, 2012, she left this temporal home and went to her new home to spend eternity with her Lord and Savior.

She devoted her life to her home, family, church and for the past 26 years, her 3 granddaughters. She has left behind her loving and devoted husband, Cecil, children Barbara and Jim, granddaughters Lauren, Kristen and Morgan, nieces, nephews and countless friends.