William (Bill) L. Crawford

William Lee (Bill) Crawford of Lampasas passed away early Sunday morning, May 11.  He would have been 94 on September 4.

Services will be held at Lampasas Methodist Church on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at 4:30 pm.

Bill Crawford was born in Zavala County, Texas, in 1931, the youngest of four children born to Thomas Patterson Crawford and Annie (Korenek) Crawford.  The Great Depression hit Zavala County and South Texas particularly hard, and matters were made much worse for the Crawford family when Bill's father died when Bill was just 11.  At 16, he began working for the Robert L. Guyler Co. in Crystal City.  He continued to work for Guyler during his college years, first at Victoria Junior College and then at Texas A&M.

His first project for Guyler after graduating from A&M with a degree in civil engineering was the construction of the National Guard Armory in Lampasas.  While there, he met Anna Wolf on a blind date.  Bill and Anna were married the following year in 1955.

Bill continued to work for the Guyler Company and was serving as its President in 1982 when the company was split up into three different businesses.  Bill bought one of the three and formed Guyco Engineering in honor of Robert Guyler, who had been his mentor and friend for four decades.  Guyco grew and prospered with Bill at the helm, completing hundreds of major construction projects, many of them at Fort Cavazos (Hood) for the United States military.  Earl on Bill adopted an innovative profit-sharing arrangement at Guyco, which allowed employees who had helped create the company's success to share in that success.

Both Bill and Anna Crawford have been passionately committed to public service, to improving and promoting Lampasas and Lampasas County and to simply helping people who needed a little extra boost.  For the sake of domestic tranquility Bill and Anna agreed to never serve on the same board together, but they did serve as co-Grand Marshals of the Spring Ho Parade one year without incident.

Bill served on the Lampasas Independent School District Board for four terms, half of that time as Board President.  He sat on the Central Texas - Fort Hood AUSA Board of Governors as well as the Heart of Texas Defensive Alliance Board.  He was a Master Mason, a member of Saratoga Lodge 546 AF & AM.  Bill served on the Board of Rollins-Brook Hospital for many years and was instrumental in saving the hospital when financial problems would otherwise have forced it to close.

Bill and Anna emphasized education and athleticism in their giving, endowing numerous scholarships at Texas A&M, at A&M Central Texas, and at Victoria Junior College, now Victoria College.  Bill was often the leading sponsor of the Lampasas County Youth Livestock Association.  In addition to all his public contributions, Bill has quietly made a profound difference in countless lives.  In every sense of the phrase,e Bill Crawford was a "pillar of the community."  He will be missed.

Bill Crawford is survived by his wife Anna Crawford and son Thomas Fred Crawford; grandchildren, Jana Crawford, Jeff Crawford (Lauren) and William Crawford (Amanda); five great-grandchildren; nieces, Judith Chapman and Janet Raybin; nephews, Joel Payne and Jerry Payne; six great nieces; four great nephews; seven great-great nieces and thirteen great-great nephews.  Extended family members include, Epifanio Gonzales, Marciana Gonzales, Ofelia Gonzales, Lupita Munoz, and Dela Delgado.

Bill was preceded in death by his son, Gregory Lee Crawford, his brothers, Patrick Crawford and Paul Crawford, and his sister, Virginia Payne.