THOMAS N. "TOMMY OR POPEE" CROWDER

Thomas N. Crowder, (Tommy or Popee), was resident of East Winds in Alpine on Logan Martin Lake, & originally of McCalla. Tom was born November 27, 1942, age 78 & passed away Wednesday, March 10, 2021. He had been retired from U S Steel for 24 years, after 32 years of service. He had previously worked for Britling Cafeteria in Birmingham & the Chateau of Vestavia during retirement. He was a graduate of McAdory High School. In his military life, he earned an Honorable Discharge from Alabama 20th Special Forces Group Airborne 1st SF as a Green Beret & some of his duties included packing parachutes, paratrooper, executive cook & achieving excellence in Marksmanship. Some of his accomplishments include, *Diploma for Bachelor of Square Dancing (for main stream), *Diploma & Certificate of Achievement for excellence in Plus Square Dancing, *Diploma awarded for the degree & title of Master of Plus DBD Square Dancing, *Certificate of Achievement for excellence in Octagonal Square Dancing, *Certificate of Achievement for Level 1 Challenge Square Dancing, *Diploma awarded for Level 1 Clogging & Line Dancing, *Certificate of Appreciation of Devoted & Invaluable Services by the Kurly Q's Square Dance Club, *Proclamation for WZZK's Good Ol' Boy Award, *Certificate of appreciation & recognition of valuable contributions to Chateau Vestavia, *Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of 14 + years Dedicated & Continued Participation in the PLCO Screening Institution of the University of Alabama, *Walker State Technical College Truck Driving Diploma, *Bessemer State Technical College Master Electrician Diploma, *Certificate of Appreciation upon meeting the strict requirements set forth by the Congress of the United States of America & accepted for Official Lifetime Membership in The American Legion, *United States Steel Corp, Fairfield Works Certificate of Computer Completion, *United States Steel Corp, Fairfield Works, Seamless Pipe Mill, NDT Certification Diploma in recognition of successful Completion of Ultrasonic Testing & *U S Steel Award for Suggestion for Cost Reduction of the Telesis Printhead. He volunteered his time working in his Alpine community helping in the annual lake clean up & in his McCalla community as Flint Hill Baptist bus driver for over 4 years, 3-4 days a week & maintained every aspect of the church & also Girl's Softball coach at McAdory. Many of these same girls made good lasting memories enjoying his awesome retreat he built at Reeds Ferry on the Black Warrior River, where he also taught them to fish, swim, ski & how to roast a weener or marshmallow over a campfire for their very first time. It was also a wonderful place for families & friends to gather for week ends for the best of good family time, especially every holiday, (even complete with fireworks over the water), where they could also make wonderful memories of enjoying swimming, tubing, paddle boat rides, horse shoes, darts, playing cards or board games when it was raining, shucking bushels of corn, watermelon cuttings & games with all the seeds, eating Mississippi Mud Cake, chocolate covered strawberries & making many freezers of homemade ice cream in every flavor imaginable or just fly a kite, sit quietly reading a book in the old porch swing or sit peacefully on the pier just before dusk watching the fog roll in. He had a very active retirement. He loved his John Deere riding mower nicknamed "Lawn Ranger" & was caretaker of the East Winds neighborhood entrance for 27 years. He was a "shade tree mechanic", restored a '57 Chevy, good cook, built 4 houses, extra smart in Math & an outstanding talented woodsman that could make a tree fall precisely anywhere he wanted it to land. He could do anything, never idle, always busy building or working on something & was always willing to lend his talents to anyone any time. He was a good provider too, many times working 2-3 outside jobs other than his regular job. He devoted much of his time to his grandson, Jonathon, in his childhood years, teaching him everything he could & hoping to be a good & strong influential figure in his life that would carry Jonathon into manhood. Tom enjoyed traveling, cruises, Pearl River Casino, dirt track races, night fishing, night excursions on his Riviera Cruiser, camping, playing card games of Canasta, Saumba, Hand-Foot & Toe all night & especially dancing with his square dance club, the Logan Martin Swingers, because after all these years, all the members had become closer than family. His most favorite all time thing to do ever was to eat fish at the City Market restaurant in Pell City. Tom's simple pleasures were drinking morning coffee with his buddies at the Cotton Patch convenient store, sitting on his covered pier grilling & listening to the waves splash, watching Gunsmoke, reading his Louis L'Amour or William Johnstone books, his front porch rocker, listening to Lake Loons by day & owls by night & especially enjoying his beloved tiny dog, Tinker. Tom met his high school sweetheart, Carol Diane Herring, in church & they frequently did homework together all through school. Carol also had to sign school bus passes in his mother's name to get him back on the bus when he was routy. Tom & Carol married May 4, 1962 & enjoyed almost 59 precious years together. Tom was caring, devoted, always willing to please, humble & a loving husband. In recent years when Carol couldn't drive, he gladly became her chauffeur, taking her everywhere she needed to go, faithfully & patiently waiting hours for her to return from appointments or grocery shopping. One of the places he would join her in going was the UAB Low Vision Connections group at Callahan. There were various presentations at each event & sometimes crafts were included. One of these crafts involved Tom's hand print of paint pressed on a plaque & over the hand print he was to write the 3 things that were foremost in his life, so he wrote, "My name is Tommy & with these hands I, . . . provide transportation for Carol so she can attend support group events & all other appointments, . . . built houses for my family to live in & . . . served in the United States Army for my country". Tom's life was mostly focused on family, helping others & always striving to be a better man. He will be remembered for his loyalty & dedication to his family & friends, quick wit, story telling, compassion for all animals & love of life. Tom was a member of Hepzibah Baptist Church in Talladega. He is preceded in death by his precious 21 month old grand daughter Ashley Diane Penrose; mother and father Louiseand Thomas N Crowder, Sr; brother and his wife Jerry & Charlotte Crowder; and grand parents; Ethel and Elbert Johnston. Tommy is survived by his wife Carol; daughter Diane Penrose; grandson Jonathon Penrose and Sydney; other grands Kathy, Michelle and Chris Penrose; sister Jo Ann Shore and husband Don; and sister-in-law, Ethel Crowder. We would like to thank our "extended family" for walking each and every step of this agonizing 2 1/2 month long journey with us. The visitation will be Tuesday, March 16, 2021, from 10:30 AM until 11:30 AM, at Peoples Chapel Funeral Home in Hueytown. The Celebration of Tommy's life will take place at 11:30 AM at the Funeral Home, with Pastor Justin Millikin of Hepzibah officiating. Masks are required. His final resting place will be Helena Cemetery. In lieu of flowers or memorial tributes, please consider a donation to the Humane Society, ASPCA or Animal Shelter of your choice.