Heather Crawford

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Heather Michelle Crawford, 26, of Bryan, passed away on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 in St. Joseph's Hospital in Bryan.

Services will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 15, at the OakCrest Funeral Home, Waco, Texas, with the Rev. Pat Cummings officiating. Burial will follow in the Oakwood Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, September 14, at OakCrest Funeral Home, 4520 Bosque. A memorial video honoring her life will be shown during the visitation and prior to the service.

Heather was born July 29, 1981 in Waco to Bill and Alese (Gardner) Crawford. She graduated in 1999 from Vanguard High School where she excelled in sports and played in the orchestra. She was a member of the softball team which won the state title four years in a row, and she finished fourth in the state in golf.

She attended Texas A&M University, graduating in 2003. She later obtained her teaching certificate and taught at the Head Start Program in Navasota. She was currently with the Hearne ISD where she taught 6th grade English and social studies. She was also the junior varsity coach and assistant coach of the varsity team.

She was coaching a game in Hearne when she unexpectedly suffered a stroke, and the family is at peace knowing that she was doing something she loved when she was stricken. She had only been with the Hearne schools for two weeks, and she had said it was the happiest she had ever been in her life.

Heather lived life to the fullest. She loved everyone unconditionally, and saw no barriers between people. She loved her family and her animals including her horses, dogs and cats.

Besides the outdoors and athletics, she loved music and played the piano, classical guitar, and violin beautifully.

She and Craig were about to become foster parents and were overjoyed with the news. She wanted to help every child she could. She was beautiful on the outside, but that did not touch her beauty within.

She was preceded in death by her paternal grandparents, Mintus and Alta Crawford, and her maternal grandparents, Elihu (Peanut) and Mary Gardner.

She is survived by her beloved Craig Coates of Bryan; father, Bill Crawford and wife, Holly of China Spring; mother, Alese West and husband, Dustin "Pops" of Lorena; brothers, Eli West, who is in the Marines stationed in San Diego, and his wife, Heather, and William Derek Crawford of China Spring; sister, Courtney McRae Crawford of China Spring; step-brother, Justin West of Charleston, S.C.; step-grandparents, Jim and Suzanne Rierson of Albany, Ga. and Wayne and Bobbie West of Waco; numerous cousins and loving relatives, her students and players in Hearne, and her many many good friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Heather Crawford Memorial Fund at the First Star Bank, Hearne Branch, PO Box 988, Hearne, TX 77859, account number 6379747 (routing number 111909676.)