A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Saturday for Joseph C. Crawford, Countryside Convalescent Home, East Lackawannock Township, formerly of Hermitage and Greenville. He passed away peacefully of natural causes at 2:05 p.m. Tuesday (7-6-10) in the emergency room of Sharon Regional Health System. He was 87.

Mr. Crawford was born July 14, 1922, in Greenville, a son of Henry C. and Beatrice Pressler Crawford.

He was a 1939 graduate of the former Penn High School, Greenville.

Joseph was present during the invasion of Pearl Harbor while serving with the Army's 21st Infantry, 24th Division. As a decorated veteran, he served during World War II in the South Pacific theater for five years and reached the rank of sergeant. He was a lifetime member of American Legion Post 299 and belonged to Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1338, both Sharon.

He returned to Greenville following his honorable discharge and was employed at Chicago Bridge and Iron Co.'s former Hempfield Township plant for 35 years, retiring as a foreman in 1980. Joe spent five of those years as a general foreman at the company's plant in New Castle, Del.

He was a member of St. Joseph Church and was a lifetime member of Benevolent Protected Order of the Elks Lodge 103, both Sharon; and was a former member of the Italian Home and the former German Home, both Farrell. Earlier in his life, Joe was an avid golfer and bowler and a member of the Chicago Bridge and Iron golf and bowling leagues and the Greenville Independent Golf League. For more than 20 years, Joe and his friends would charter a bus to go fishing in Dover, Del., and later, Ocean City, Md. He loved to play euchre and looked forward to going to the American Legion on Mondays and the Elks on Wednesdays.

His wife and the love of his life, the former Margaret Ann Dempsey, whom he married May 17, 1951, in the former St. Joseph Church in Sharon, passed away Sept. 16, 2004, after 53 beautiful years of marriage.

Surviving are: a daughter, Lisa Mitrovich and her husband Ronald, Twinsburg, Ohio; twin granddaughters, Nicole Centeno and her husband Arnold, Delaware, Ohio; and Tonia Copsey and her husband Chad, Clyde, Ohio; a sister, Catherine Cooper, a resident at St. Paul's, West Salem Township; a sister-inlaw, Nancy Crawford, Adamsville; and several nieces and nephews including Delbert and Rita Williams, Sharon; Bernie Sigler, Fredonia; and Kathy and Gary Diegan, Hermitage.

Besides his wife, Joe was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Frederick Crawford.

In lieu of flowers, Joe's wishes were that memorial contributions be made to St. Joseph Parochial Grade School, 760 E. State St., Sharon, PA 16146.

Calling hours: 5 to 8 p.m. Friday (7-9-10) in J. BRADLEY McGONIGLE FUNERAL HOME and CREMATORY Inc., 1090 E. State St., Sharon.

Friends may send condolences by visiting our website at www.McGonigleFuneralHomeandCrematory.com

Mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. Saturday (7-10-10) in St. Rose Cemetery Chapel, Dutch Lane, Hermitage, with the Rev. Glenn R. Whitman, pastor of St. Joseph's Church, Sharon, as celebrant.