Lance N. Crow Sr.

Lance Nicholas Crow Sr., age 83, of Ravenna, OH, passed away on Wednesday, December 25th, 2024 at the Laurels of Massillon.

Lance was born December 22nd, 1941 in Euclid, OH to the late Claire (deGerenday) Crow, and adopted by her late husband Walter A. Crow.

Lance Nicholas Crow was born in Euclid, Ohio on December 22, 1941. As a child, he was enthralled by family visits to Oklahoma, the birthplace of his father, Walter. Lance loved Oklahoma for its Old West heritage, its cowboys and Native American tribes. This fed his lifelong enthusiasm for Western movies, especially those starring John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart and singing cowboy Roy Rogers.

Lance also followed his family’s traditions in the arts as a kid, dancing in ballet classes taught by his Aunt Helen. In his late teenage years, he played the drums, and was a fan of big band greats like Buddy Rich and – his favorite – Gene Krupa.

Lance joined the U. S. Army out of high school, being stationed in France for three years. In the Army, he received training with radio and telecommunications equipment that would allow him to provide for his future family. Lance received a hardship discharge upon the death of his grandmother in 1963.

Lance had a few jobs after the Army, one at a bank that didn’t last long… as he hated being couped up indoors all day! He later worked as a lifeguard at Landerhaven Country Club in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. While working at the Landerhaven swimming pool, Lance became friends with another lifeguard named Richard Roznik, and later met Richard’s younger sister, Terese “Terri” Roznik, who worked at a snack shop on the club golf course.

Terri and Lance were married on July 6, 1968. They were married almost 55 years when Terri passed away on July 3, 2023 at the age of 75.

The couple lived on Cherry Street in Kent, Ohio for a short time, while Terri was finishing her degree at Kent State University. In 1969, they bought a house on Graham Road in Stow, Ohio, near the corner of Darrow Road. The couple raised their three children in this house – Lance Jr., Michelle and Heather, while being active in the congregation of Holy Family Catholic Church in Stow.

With his technical experience from the Army, Lance settled in as a telephone lineman at the Ohio Bell telephone company (later Ameritech), where he worked for 29 years. Lance loved being able to work outdoors as a lineman, even when he had to climb up utility poles and down into manholes to repair phone lines. He seemed to love the toughest environments the most – late at night during phone system outages caused by thunderstorms and heavy snow!

Lance and Terri took their youngest daughter, Heather, to swimming lessons at the Tallmadge, Ohio YMCA when she was a young child. Heather had been born in 1974 with several disabilities, and swimming was great physical therapy. Swimming teachers were needed when the Crow family arrived for lessons, and Lance volunteered immediately. He wound up running the entire swimming program for disabled kids for years to come.

While fixing phone lines and raising a family, Lance also found time for outdoor hobbies like camping (especially in Native American teepees), Mountain Man clubs (complete with period buckskin clothing and muzzle loading rifles), deer hunting, photography, and volunteering with groups like the Royal Rangers and the Boy Scouts.

Lance found lifelong spiritual fulfillment in his faith as a Charismatic/Evangelical Christian. He took great comfort in prayer, read and studied the Bible every morning near dawn, and could quote Scripture with the best of them. Through his years with the church, Lance portrayed a clown (in full make-up!) to visit critically ill children in hospitals, and volunteered his time to mentor boys from disadvantaged homes. He especially like playing basketball with the boys. No word on how good his jump shot was…

Lance’s faith in God was everything to him. At the end of his life, his surviving children – Lance and Michelle – joked that “Dad would naturally be ‘waiting’ to pass away on Christmas Day,”and that it would certainly mean bonus points towards getting into Heaven. As if Lance needed any… If he had any say in the matter, Lance waited just long enough. He passed away around 12:35am on December 25, 2024.

We will remember Lance the most as he is pictured in a recently discovered photograph: full beard, out in the woods, orange hunting cap on his head, camera in hand. He lived a good, full life, he had many friends and loved ones, he spread joy and love to a great many people and truly impacted their lives. He not only spoke like a Christian. He walked and lived as a Christian every single day. He simply knew no other way to be.

We know that Lance is at peace, and that he was more than ready to make the final journey to God that he had prepared for all his life. Still… we miss him terribly…

Lance is survived by his son, Lance Crow Jr.; daughter Michelle (Richard) Laskey; granddaughter Evelyn; grandson Nicholas; cousin Lynne deGerenday; sister-in-law Maija (Richard) Roznik; niece Lisa Roznik; nephew Michael Roznik; brother-in-law Jack (Maria) Roznik; niece Jaclyn Roznik and nephew-in-law Jacob Kurkul; nephew Joe Roznik.

Lance was preceded in death by his wife, Terese “Terri” Crow (Roznik); daughter, Heather Crow; parents, Walter A. and Claire (deGerenday) Crow; father-in-law, John Roznik; mother-in-law, Theresia “Rose” Roznik (Debeljak); brothers-in-law, Johnny and Richard Roznik; aunt, Helen (deGerenday) Major and uncle, Nicholas Major; uncle Laci deGerenday; aunt Elisabeth deGerenday; aunt Francis Jean deGerenday.

Calling hours will be held Thursday, January 2nd, 2025 from 5:00-7:00 P.M. at the Bissler and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory, 628 W. Main Street, Kent, OH 44240. Funeral services will be held Friday, January 3rd at 1:00 PM Christian Life Center, 1972 E Summit St, Kent, OH 44240 with Allen Rittman officiating. Burial will follow at Standing Rock Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Christian Life Center. 

Services in care of Bissler & Sons Funeral Home and Crematory, 628 West Main Street, Kent, OH 44240.