Rev. William "Elmer" Crosby

William “Elmer” Crosby, age 86 of Columbia, passed away Wednesday, July 9, 2014 at Life Care Center of Columbia.

Elmer was born August 21, 1927 in Chattanooga, Tennessee to the late Elmer and Hattie Carmichael Crosby. He married Mildred Dixon on April 14, 1946 and they spent 68 wonderful years together. In fact together might be the best word to describe their marriage partnership. Where one was, the other was sure to be there too. Even though they had two cars for many years, Elmer would drop Mildred off at work each day and pick her up as well. One of their favorite memories was getting to go to France together. They had two sons, Bill and Mike and spent a life of ministry to the Lord together.

Elmer was “all in” on anything he was involved in. For instance he was a cheerleader at Chattanooga Central High School as well as at Carson-Newman College. Also, when in college, they had to live in a one room apartment with no running water or indoor restroom facility, they felt that they should do it in order to get prepared to serve the Lord.

According to their sons, they were “depression children” and “WWII people”. They understood thrift and work, believed in work and saving as well as giving to their church. They also believed in helping others when needed. Elmer’s life reflected this not only in his church ministry, but in his civic works as well. He was a member of the Lion’s Club worked with The Family Center, served as the treasurer of the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, as well as the President of the PTA of his sons’ schools. He also worked with the Maury County Ministerial Association.

Bro. Crosby began his pastoral ministry in the hills of East Tennessee. He served as the Associate Pastor of Red Bank Baptist Church in Chatanooga. From 1953 to 1957 he and Mildred lived in Wake Forest and attended Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Following that, he was the pastor at Center Hill Baptist Church in Gratis, GA. Then from 1959-1965 he was the minister of McCarty Baptist Church in Chattanooga. From 1965-1969 he served as pastor of First Baptist Church in Cowan, Tennessee. Then, he pastored at First Baptist Church of Sparta, Tennessee.

In 1975, our community was blessed to have Bro. Elmer and his beloved Mrs. Mildred arrive to serve as the Director of Missions for the Maury Baptist Association. During this time period he also went on several foreign mission trips to Belize and Burkina Faso. Additionally, he went to Detroit and Iowa on home mission trips. He retired from the Maury Baptist Association in 1992.

His ministry didn’t end there, however. He filled a number of “interim” positions including First Baptist Church in Mt. Pleasant, Swan Creek Baptist and Allensville Baptist. He re-retired in 2011. During all his years of ministry, he preached, sang and led worship at many revivals.

On a personal note, his sons remember that he couldn’t have been any better as a dad. No matter how busy he was in his ministry, he always had time for them. Mike remembers that even though he wasn’t a starter on the basketball team, his parents still never missed a game. They also made time for their grandchildren, sitting for as long as four hours through a dance recital to see one of the grandkids perform for at most ten minutes. He was affectionately called “Granddaddy” and the two of them were called “The G’s” by all the grandchildren. Elmer didn’t tell them he loved them, so much as he showed them he loved them everyday.

Some of Elmer’s favorite things were Brave’s baseball, UT Football, UT Women’s Basketball and WWF (they even went to see a live match with Jackie Fargo in Chattanooga when the boys were young). One of his very favorite things to do was to eat. He loved peanut butter, ice cream, chocolate, fried chicken and banana pudding.

Bro. Crosby is survived by his wife: Mildred Crosby; sons: William E. “Bill” (Finise) Crosby, Jr. and James M. “Mike” (Jean K.) Crosby; grandchildren: Jason (Kate) Crosby, Lauren (Jason) Thompson, Bradley (Megan) Crosby, Katie (Jim) Gore, Kelly Crosby and Karli Crosby; step-grandchildren: Daniel McMinn, Patrick McMinn and Chris McMinn; great-grandchildren: Brooks Crosby, Millie Lou Crosby and Jude Thompson; and several cousins.

The family will visit with friends on Friday, July 11, 2014 at Williams Funeral Home in Columbia from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Funeral services will be conducted Saturday, July 12, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. with Bro. Ezell Rose officiating and Pastor Ron Gleaves assisting. Burial will follow at Polk Memorial Gardens.

Jason Crosby, Bradley Crosby, Jason Thompson, Jim Gore, Walter Clot and Roland McKnight will serve as Pallbearers.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are to be made payable to Northside Baptist Church Building Fund.

Williams Funeral Home in Columbia is assisting the family with arrangements. Condolences may be shared with the family at www.williamsfh.com .