Keith T. Crunk

Keith Theodore Crunk, age 89, passed away April 8, 2019, in Waco, Texas. Memorial services will be 2:00 p.m., Sunday, April 28, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Crawford, Texas, with Pastor Thomas Beers officiating. Keith was born November 7, 1929, in Wink, Texas, to Floyd Bidful Crunk and Mary Violet Dudley Crunk. Keith attended school in Wink and in Hobbs, New Mexico, and graduated from high school in Sundown, Texas, in 1948. He enrolled at Baylor University. While at Baylor, Keith was drafted in 1951 to Army service as part of the 45th Infantry Division and was deployed to Korea, in theater at the Battle of the Punch Bowl. After honorable discharge, he returned to Baylor to complete his B. A. degree, graduating in 1952. He began a career as a mathematics teacher in public education, teaching briefly in Lubbock, and then 4 years in Midland, before accepting a position with Waco ISD. During those early teaching years in Waco, he worked in summers and evenings to complete his Master’s Degree from Baylor. In 1966, he married Virginia Louise Fritz, a fellow math teacher at Lake Air Junior High School. About this time he became boys’ counselor at Lake Air. He continued to serve as a counselor in Waco public schools until his retirement in May, 1989. He then worked several years for Region 12 Education Service Center, as a part-time counselor for a number of small public schools in central Texas, including Morgan, Walnut Springs, Crawford, and Valley Mills. Keith was a charter member of Lake Shore Baptist Church, Waco, where he also taught Sunday school. He later became a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church, Crawford. Keith had a passion for family genealogy and organized multiple family reunions in Tennessee and Texas. He also enjoyed managing his homestead land in western McLennan County, initially purchased through the G. I. Bill and where he and Virginia raised their family. Keith is preceded in death by his parents; step-mother, Leta Muckelroy Crunk; and two brothers, James Floyd Crunk and Jon Nolan Crunk. He is survived by wife, Virginia; two sons, Jeffrey Fritz Crunk and wife, Sharon Siske-Crunk, of Austin and Derek Andrew Crunk and wife, Jennifer Burleson Crunk, of Smithville; three grandchildren, Jefferson Elliott Charles Crunk and Gladys Elizabeth Louise Crunk of Austin and Ava LeeAnn Crunk of Smithville; and several nieces and nephews. Memorials may be made to St. Paul Lutheran Church, P.O. Box 98, Crawford TX 76638, or to the charity of your choice. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.