Edward M. Crabtree '45 died April 14, 2009.
Ed Crabtree died on April 14, 2009, at Hospice House in Concord, N.H., after a brief illness. He was 86.
Ed entered Amherst in the fall of 1941 after graduating from Deerfield Academy and, like many of his classmates, had his studies interrupted by the war. He served in the U.S. Army in the North African and European Theaters as a member of the Engineer Mine Clearance Company (armored). As a tank commander, he was wounded at Cassino, Italy, for which he was awarded the Purple Heart, and removed to England for rehabilitation. Following the war, Ed returned to Amherst and graduated in 1947.
Ed was employed in public relations and personnel administration with Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates in Boston and later with the First National Stores in Somerville. He served a term as president of the Massachusetts Industrial Editors Association and on various committees of the International Council of Industrial Editors.
At Amherst, Ed was a member of Alpha Delta Phi and tenor soloist for the glee club and chapel choir. In later years, he shared this gift as a member of the chorus of the Handel and Hayden Society in Boston where he was also secretary and a member of the board of directors. For 18 years he sang with the Two By Fours, a men’s double quartet in metropolitan Boston. Ed was also active in the Holliston Dog Training Club and an assistant scoutmaster for a Boy Scout troop.
Ed is survived by Betty, his wife and childhood sweetheart; two children, Edith and Ernest; four grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
To Ed’s family, we extend our Class’s sincere condolences.
—Daniel B. Leavitt ’45