William Lee “Bill” Crawford of Lampasas died May 11, 2025 at the age of 93.
Services were held for him at Lampasas Methodist Church on May 14. Sneed-Carnley Funeral Chapel had charge of arrangements.
Crawford was born in Zavala County on Sept. 4, 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 his father died when Bill was just 11.
At age 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 University.
His first project for Guyler after graduating from A&M with a degree in civil engineering was 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.
Crawford continued to work for the Guyler Co. and was serving as its president in 1982 when the company split into three businesses. He 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 Mr. Crawford at the helm, completing hundreds of major construction projects, many of them at Fort Cavazos/Fort Hood.
Early on, Crawford adopted an innovative profitsharing arrangement at Guyco that allowed employees who had helped create the company’s success to share in that success.
Both Crawford and his wife were committed to public service, to improving and promoting Lampasas and Lampasas County, and to helping people who needed a little extra boost. They were selected as Spring Ho Grand Parade marshals in 1994 in recognition of their contributions to the community.
Crawford served on the Lampasas Independent School District Board of Trustees for four terms, half of that time as board president. He also sat on the Central Texas-Fort Hood AUSA Board of Governors as well as the Heart of Texas Defense Alliance Board. He was a Master Mason, a member of Saratoga Lodge #546 AF&AM.
He served on the board of Rollins-Brook Hospital for many years and was instrumental in saving the hospital when financial problems otherwise would have forced it to close.
The Crawfords emphasized education and athletics in their giving, endowing numerous scholarships at Texas A&M University, at A&M-Central Texas and at Victoria Junior College, now Victoria College. Crawford often was the leading sponsor of the Lampasas County Livestock Association.
In addition to his public contributions, Crawford quietly made a profound difference in many lives and was considered a pillar of the community.
He 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 greatnephews; seven great-greatnieces and 13 great-greatnephews. Extended family members include Epifanio Gonzales, Marciana Gonzales, Ofelia Gonzales, Lupita Munoz and Dela Delgado.
Crawford was preceded in death by his son, Gregory Lee Crawford; brothers Patrick Crawford and Paul Crawford; and his sister, Virginia Payne.
