Obituary for Eugene Robert Crothers

Life Story for Eugene Robert Crothers

Eugene Robert Crothers, of Havre de Grace, MD, went to be with the Lord and so many of his relatives on April 4, 2017. He was born in Allentown, PA, on November 1, 1923 to Charles Hoffman Crothers and Hannah C. Weiner Crothers.
As an 8 year old boy, he worked on a Harvey Defenderfer Farm, milking thirteen cows, feeding chickens and other much needed jobs on the farm. He enjoyed driving the tractor or the horse drawn wagon the most. He enjoyed going to the Lehigh and Jordan Rivers to fish and swim. At thirteen years old, he and his friends went into town on the trolley, with a great idea to get tattoos. After this great adventure he made his way home to show his mother, where you can only imagine she was furious and cried. He enjoyed going to the movies with friends, as it only cost a quarter for popcorn, hotdog, candy, soda and the movie. After finishing school, he worked for Graver Tank, which led to his career in the Army. While in the Army he and his brother-in-law Rodney, had the duty of standing guard at the entrance of Camp Osborne (which is now the club house entrance to Bulle Rock) the large Oak tree still stands. Soon after entering the Army he met Virginia Pearl Hamm and she was faithful in caring and bringing him lunch while he worked. They were soon married in Elkton, MD. After they were married, he was sent overseas to work as a Medic with the 92nd Field Hospital. While there he received the Good Conduct Medal, American Theater Ribbon, Philippines Liberation Ribbon and the World War II Victory Ribbon. During his tour of duty, he traveled more than 239,000 miles that covered 13 foreign regions.
Eugene and Virginia had three children; Delores, Bobby and Deborah, where they lived in Baldwin Manor near the Aberdeen Proving Ground. After working hard and saving money, in 1955 they were able to purchase their own home off of Earlton Road, just in time for Deborah to be born.
So many memories were made, his children remember taking long rides through the country on the weekends. His children would make up games counting silo’s, barns or even who could find the first dead animal. He always ended the long rides with a special dinner and then followed with ice cream. He would love taking his family back home to where he grew up. While visiting his family home, he would show them how the cistern worked (still able to pump water) and the infamous outhouse (that was still in working order) as the family home still did not have indoor plumbing. It was always a special treat visiting his parents, aunts, uncles and cousins. He was known to his nieces and nephews as “Uncle Gene”.
In addition to his job at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, he worked in the evening at the Schaffer Appliance Store for 13 years. At the Aberdeen Proving Ground, he worked various jobs; Quarter Master, Oil & Refuges, Weight & Measurements and many others. He truly enjoyed all aspects of his work.
He truly enjoyed spending time with each and every one of his 5 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and 2 great-great grandchildren. He enjoyed taking them fishing, to the Circus, to the Log Jam, ice cream, Aquarium or a simple trip to McDonalds.
He also enjoyed tinkering with motors, usually taking them apart to fix. He always had a jar full of nuts and screws. He would collect copper wire and aluminum cans, even making stops along the road to collect cans, often making his children get out of the car to collect a few. He would save his findings until he saw that he had enough to take to the Junk yard for cash. He was always able to have spare money just from these collections.
When his daughter Deborah married and moved, he ofter made visits to their home to help chop wood, taking turns between chopping and stacking the wood. He was always helping out.
As he aged, it was hard for his family to see him limited in his activities. Watching him deteriorate from such a strong man to a weak body. He was truly blessed to have his children love and care for him as he was preparing to join his Lord and Savior. His children were given the strength from God to care for him with Dementia on a daily basis. As his children have said “At 93, he had a great life”