George Crawford

George Joe Crawford, 79, from American Fork, Utah, passed away on November 27, 2020, in Provo, Utah. George was a very kind, soft-spoken, loving husband, father, and grandfather. He had such a gentle nature all animals gravitated towards him. For most of his adult life, he was a commercial and fine artist. He had written a biography for his website, and the family wanted his words to be the obituary.

I was born in southeastern Kansas in 1941 but grew up in Mesa, Arizona. My interest in art began early in life, and though most all children enjoy drawing, my interest increased as I grew. I cannot remember wanting to be anything but an artist.

I worked for a number of years in the newspaper industry and eventually became a graphic artist. I lived in Prescott, Arizona, for many years, working as a graphic designer for an electric sign company. I eventually re-established my graphic arts and sign business in that area and worked at it until retiring in 2009.

My wife Jennie and I have raised six children, and we have always been active in our church. We lived for a short time in southern Arizona before moving to the American Fork area in Utah.

All my adult life, I have painted and drawn, studying art, and exhibiting my work as I was able. I completed two years of college in art studies, enrolled in correspondence courses, bought art texts, and studied on my own. Since retiring, I have been painting full-time. I am represented by an art gallery in southern Arizona, and I have work displayed in an insurance office and a doctor's office here in Utah.

My interests have always been landscapes and nostalgic rural scenes, and small towns. The homes and lifestyles of earlier days fascinate me. The honest, straight­ forwardness and the hardworking ethics of our grandfathers and grandmothers is an attribute I like to portray.

I have traveled and sketched in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Washington to gather material for my paintings. My work is generally a combination of several places I have observed and is not a depiction of any one specific place or scene. I hope you enjoy my work.

George is survived by his wife Jennie, and six children: William and his wife Charilla, Jolene (Minarik) and her husband Bob, Michael and his wife Stacie, Rebecca (Goncalves) and her husband Danilo, Lewis, Douglas and his wife Sherrie. He is also survived by his fifteen grandchildren, twenty-eight great-grandchildren, his younger brother Gerald Lewis, and his beloved cats Mouse and Minette.

Graveside services will be held by invitation only.