Joseph Ervin Crider
August 8, 1937 – December 4, 2014
Joseph Ervin Crider, 77, of Alton, MO died Thursday, December 4, 2014 at Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains, MO with his wife by his side. His last words were, "God loves me." He was born August 8, 1937 in Kent, Iowa to Joseph Carroll and Marjorie Elaine Morrow Crider.
Mr. Crider was married to Ruth Lee McDowell on June 28, 1957 at Esther, MO. He served in the United States Army from 1957 to 1960, and was stationed in Korea in the Seventh Division from 1958 to 1959, attaining the rank of Sp4 before being honorably discharged in 1960. He and Ruth owned and operated Crider Studio from 1963 to 1971. He attended Covenant Foundation College in Greenfield, IN from 1971–1974, and upon graduation, returned to West Plains, MO, where he worked at Aid True Value Hardware from 1974 until they closed. He then began Crider Bookkeeping, which he continued when he and his wife moved to Alton, MO in 1995, where he also started printing the Alton Advertiser, which he continued until his death. His son, Joseph "Allen", will continue the business.
He was preceded in death by his parents and is survived by his wife, Ruth, of Alton, MO, his three children, Allen Crider, of Alton, MO, Cheryl Foster and husband, John, of Clinton, MO, Michael Crider and wife Orilla, of West Plains, MO, his sister Carolyn Kelley and husband, John, of West Plains, MO, and brother Tom Crider and wife, Fern, of Rio Rancho, NM, four grandchildren, James Crider, of Poplar Bluff, MO, Cody Foster, of Clinton, MO, Abigail Crider, of West Plains, MO, and Milton Crider, of West Plains, MO.
The funeral was held Monday, December 8, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. at Clary Funeral Home, with burial at Oak Lawn Cemetery in West Plains, MO. Rev. Charles Trantham of Alton Freewill Baptist Church officiated. Pallbearers were Mike Crawford, Ron Campbell, John Kelley, Kent Kelley, James Crider, John Foster, and Cody Foster.
For genealogy data on family and connections:
Crider McDowell Family History
Photo Gallery
