Elwood Crawford Jones

August 17, 1930 – June 4, 2016

Funeral services for E. Crawford Jones of Moses Lake, Wash. will be 2 p.m. Friday, June 10 at the LDS Stake Center at 1515 S. Division St. Visitation will be an hour before the Funeral Service 1-1:45 p.m. and Thursday evening at Kayser’s Chapel 5-7 p.m.

Crawford passed away at his home Saturday, June 4 at the age of 85. He was born Aug. 17, 1930 at Provo, Utah, the son of Arthur Theone and Minnie (Crawford) Jones. He grew up in Baggs, Wyo., Linden, Utah and Thomas, Idaho. He graduated from Thomas High School in 1948, and attended BYU-Provo, Ricks College and Harvard University. He served an LDS mission in the Northwestern States Mission from 1950 to 1952. The time on his mission gave him his first look at the Columbia Basin. He was very impressed and wanted to come back and settle here.

Crawford married Judith Clayton in the Idaho Falls Temple, 1952. He served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a Field Radio Repairman from 1952 to 1954. After graduating from the University of Idaho with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, he worked in the potato industry for several years which brought him to Moses Lake. He began farming here in 1972, which fulfilled his lifelong dream of owning his own farm in the Columbia Basin.

Crawford was active in the LDS Church, serving in various positions including the Boy Scout program, Bishop, Stake President and as a Temple Sealer in the Seattle and Columbia River temples. He and his wife, Judy, served as a missionary couple. They opened up a new area of the Papua New Guinea Mission by serving in the Solomon Islands. Not long after they returned home, Crawford was called to serve as the Manager of Nauvoo Restoration, while Judy worked in the Land and Records Office.

Crawford is survived by his sister, Pat (Jack) Moyle, of Enterprise, Utah; a brother, Vincent (Lore) Jones of Arcadia, Fla.; his seven children: Martha (Gary) Hills; Stephen (Diane) Jones; Daniel (Dee) Jones; Lorraine (Leon) Baker; Sarah (Scott) Bedke; Ruth (David) Cammack; Rachel (Gordon) Rencher; 27 grandchildren and 43 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Judy and his brother Donald Jones.