Charles Joseph Crapo was born on December 25th 1948 to the late Benjamin Joseph Crapo of Brentwood, Maryland and his loving wife, the late Eleanor Mayella Hingston Crapo. He was the second of their four children, Anna Crapo Hyatt of Mt. Rainier, Maryland, William Crapo of Mt. Jackson, Virginia and Michael Crapo of Brentwood, Maryland.
He died on November 6, 2017 at the hospital surrounded by his 3rd family. For many years, he had the loving support of Ms. Melinda Ponds and her daughter Jessica Ponds, both of whom survived him.
He is also survived by the brothers and sister his birth family and their extensive families and by his 2nd and 3rd families. They include his former wife, Linda Longchamps Crapo of Rehoboth, Massachusetts and their two daughters, Barbara Crapo Brintnall, of Mansfield, Massachusetts and Christine Crapo Remington (soon to be Houghton), of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Barbara and her husband, Mark also have 2 children, Jonathan and Genevieve; while Christine has 1 daughter, Carissa. His final family, which whom he shared with Melinda Ponds and her children from a previous marriage, are from Summerfield, Florida.
During his life he had the blessing of having had 3 iterations of loving families that he was a part of and expanded the lives of.
He attended Catholic School at St. James in Mt. Rainier, Maryland where his family attended church. Later he graduated from Dematha Catholic School in Hyattsville, Maryland. After high school, he joined the Navy as an enlisted man, where he earned the rank of petty officer, while working on the sub tender, the Fulton, stationed at the Groton Naval Base in Connecticut. He was honorably discharged in 1971 due to an injury while on active duty.
During his time in the Navy, he was introduced to Ms. Linda Longchamps. They courted and fell in love, marrying on August 2nd 1969. After his discharge, he moved Linda and their daughter, Barbara back to Maryland to be near his family. He worked as a communications dispatcher at the McMillian Drive headquarters for the District of Columbia’s fire department. Additionally, he was a volunteer firefighter along with his 2 brothers in their hometown of Brentwood, Maryland.
His hobbies during this time included hunting, fishing and photography. This love of the outdoors was something he passed on to both of his daughters; who in turn passed it on to their children.
While living in Florida, he met Ms. Melinda Ponds, of Summerfield, Florida and her daughter, Jessie. They spent roughly 20 years together moving around the Ocala area. He worked as an equipment salesman, specializing in larger equipment for both small and large business needs. Eventually, he had to retire because of medical issues that were slowly beginning to progress. Other members of his extended family include Melinda’s daughter Angela Moore and her children Bandon Lane, Payton Lane, Gavin Lane, Tyler Moore and Adrianna Moore.
While in Florida, he enjoyed family outings with Melinda’s extended family, and enjoyed cooking and grilling for these events. Another favorite activity that he now had the opportunity to enjoy was NASCAR Racing. Occasionally, he was even able to attended races with friends and family.
Most of all, he allowed all those he shared his life with to learn to the benefit of serving and working with others for the common benefit of all. All of his extensive family will come together to celebrate his life at a ceremony to be held at Arlington National Cemetery on June 19,2018 at 3:00 pm with a private reception for friends and family to follow.
