Charles and Kim Crawford: Remember Their Daughter Through An Endowment

"She was so in love with teaching, and she was very good at it."

Karen Crawford was a 1991 graduate of SHSU majoring in education.

Charles and Kim Crawford had a very personal reason for endowing the Karen Gail Crawford Memorial Scholarship.

"When we lost our daughter, we thought (establishing a scholarship in her memory) would be a good way to honor her," Charles said. "She was a teacher, so it's for the education department, and we endowed it in perpetuity.

" Their daughter Karen was a 1991 Sam Houston State University graduate majoring in education. She taught second grade in the Klein Independent School District for less than two years before her tragic death.

"She was so in love with teaching, and she was very good at it," Kim said. "When she went to college, she didn't really know what she wanted to do for a while, but once she decided she wanted to teach, she had so much enthusiasm and such delight and enjoyment with her teaching that she just glowed.

"She was really extraordinary. She loved children, and she was just full of grace," Kim said. "She did so many things for her students that were over and above what was required of her to do, and a lot of kids really loved her."

Karen's passion for teaching was reflected in the many letters Charles and Kim received after she died.

"I got so many letters from parents mentioning what it was like to have her for a teacher and the things that she did to make it easier for their children who had problems," Kim said. "She had time for everyone; she made time for everyone. She rejoiced that she was able to help. She felt like that was her calling, and I think it really was."

Karen's love for teaching and for Sam Houston motivated the Crawfords to endow the scholarship in memory of their youngest child.

"After she died, we wanted to do something that was a lasting memorial so that the way she felt about teaching would continue on, and we couldn't think of anything to do other than a memorial endowment to keep her memory alive," she said. "We decided we wanted to do something to help other girls that perhaps feel the same way, or had something about them that touched us like she did."

This year's recipient was the 17th student to be awarded the scholarship since the endowment was established in 1995.

Neither of the Crawfords is originally from Texas , but they feel the Houston area is now home. Charles grew up in Massachusetts , and received his degree in history from Brown University in Providence , Rhode Island.

"When I got out, I went into the Coast Guard," he said. "I wasn't on active duty that long. I was with the captain of the port in Boston . I stayed in the reserves for about 12 years, and ended up as a lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard."

After active duty in the Coast Guard, Charles began working with an insurance company, Amica Mutual.

"They transferred me and I worked out in San Francisco , Phoenix and ended up down here," he said. "I was the regional vice president. I worked for them for 37 years."

While working in California , Charles met his wife Kim, who grew up out "in the country" in New Mexico .

"We really were out in the country," she said. "My father worked for an oil company and the nearest town was about 20 miles away. I was an avid reader. I think by the time I was probably in the sixth grade I had read my way through the library."

Kim's love for reading also spurred an interest in traveling.

"I just knew there was a whole big world out there that was interesting to me. Even though I was raised in a country, rural setting, I guess I'm just a city girl at heart," she said. "I sort of have wanderlust, I guess."

This yearning to travel led her to take a flight attendant job, where she ended up in San Francisco.

"I always wanted to live in San Francisco, so I went there and got a job at an insurance company," she said. "It happened to be the one my husband worked for, and that's how I met him. I didn't leave for 12 years."

The couple and their two children made their last company move to Houston , Kim said.

"We never really thought we would end up here, but we've lived here so long now that it's home," she said.

After Karen's death, the two moved to The Woodlands, where they are enjoying their retirement and continue to travel.

"I always wanted to see the world and we have tried to do that," Kim said. "It's fascinating to me how other people live in other countries."

"Like most people, with children and work, you don't have the time to travel," Charles said. "We always wanted to see things, so now that we're retired we're able to go places. We've been to Africa , Egypt , China , Tokyo , and most of Europe . We just like to travel and go places."

Charles also spends time playing golf, while Kim has found a hobby in gardening.

"I get a lot of therapeutic time out of that," she said. "I do volunteer work, like I guess a lot of people do and live sort of a quiet life."

Although their daughter was their only tie to Sam Houston, the Crawfords chose to endow a scholarship in her memory to give back to the university that had given something to her.

"Ours was a very personal reason," Charles said. "Most universities that help people have to help those who can't afford it. One of the ways they can do that is through endowments from past graduates."

Charles and Kim Crawford during a recent trip to Hawaii

Story by Jennifer Gauntt