Ike Crawford 
by 
Julie Schurman, Van Winter, Spencer Fast 

Herman Crawford known as "Ike" was born December 15, 1912, in Summer County, Kansas. He is married to Pauline Crawford and has no children but many other relatives. As a child he had no siblings but was very close to his cousin. His parents Nellie and Roy Crawford brought him up as a country boy. When he was a child, he was a troublemaker. He told a story about how he whinnied like a colt when he was hungry. 

When he was in the first grade, he went to a one-room schoolhouse. He decided that he was hungry, so he was going to whinny like a little colt at the teacher because it was about noon, and time for lunch. Finally he found out where the teacher was standing, right behind him. He got hit pretty hard and he learned that when he got hungry at noon to not whinny any more for food! 

The person who influenced Ike the most was his mom. His family had a saying, "Look after your pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves." When he was in middle school, he played the trombone and sang in a glee club. He enjoyed this very much. During Christmas they decorated the tree with cranberries and popcorn. He went to his grandparent's house for this special holiday. For Christmas Ike got candy, fruits, and clothes. Once he even got a coaster wagon! 

Ike got to school in a unique way. He traveled to school, which was about one and three fourths miles away in what they called "kid wagons." This was a horse-drawn wagon with a canvas top. One time he had to go on a route with a taxicab kind of carriage. It made the other kids jealous with its leather seats and glass windows. 

Ike had many different hobbies. One was that he liked playing the trombone in the school band. He had different hobbies. One was that he played basketball in middle school and wanted to get an athletics award but he didn't. He received a Citizen Award even though he was a troublemaker. He also helped with his family's garden. The other work that he did was he worked for his grandpa at his farm because he got paid.  

Ike Crawford was an amazing person who brought joy to many peoples' lives. He is a living part of history. Ike Crawford has lived through so much and is wise because of his experiences. He enjoyed this experience as much as we did.