Carla Crawford, a pastor’s wife, died August 19. She was 62.
Carla attended Faith Baptist Bible College for three years before marrying Michael Crawford on June 2, 1984. She later earned a BS in human resources from Grace University in Omaha, graduating in 1996.
After their marriage, the couple moved to Tacoma, Washington, while Michael pursued an MDiv and Carla served alongside him as church secretary. They returned to Iowa, where Michael pastored Grace Baptist Church, New Virginia, Iowa, before the growing family followed a call to serve at Faith Baptist Church, Fort Dodge, Iowa.
In addition to raising their three biological daughters, Mike and Carla fostered many children and were blessed with three sons through adoption. After Mike joined the National Guard as a chaplain, Carla held down the fort through three deployments, supporting his military service through his retirement in 2023.
As a gifted vocalist, violinist, and pianist, Carla served her community and church on music committees, led children’s choir as well as adult choirs, performed as first chair violin in the Fort Dodge Symphony Orchestra, sang with the Sonshine Singers, and accompanied weekly Sunday services for many years. She also taught private piano, violin, and voice lessons, as well as music class at a Christian school.
After a stage IV ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2023, Carla surpassed expectations and enjoyed traveling and spending time with her grandchildren for two more years. She leaves a legacy of following her Savior, Jesus Christ, devoting her life to His service and passing on His love to her children and grandchildren.
Carla is survived by her husband, Mike; three daughters, Elissa (Nick) Savov, Emily (Brian) Conley, and Evianne (Christian) Swanson; three sons, Edward Crawford, Ethan Crawford, and Eric Crawford; and nine grandchildren.
