Cicero Crutchfield, Jr.

Cicero “Buddy” Cohron Crutchfield, Jr., 88, of Beaumont, died Saturday, December 28, 2019. He was born on December 27, 1931, in Yoakum, Texas to Melba Cannan Crutchfield and Cicero Cohron Crutchfield, Sr.

Buddy’s family moved to Austin when he was a young child, where he and his sister and brother were raised.  After graduating Austin High School in 1950, he entered the University of Texas, where he joined both the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps and the Longhorn Band as a trombone player.  He was elected President of the band his senior year.  He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1954 and then accepted a commission as second lieutenant with the U. S. Air Force.

He was stationed at McCoy Air Force Base in Orlando, Florida.  There he was assigned to the Strategic Air Command, the outfit responsible for Cold War command and control of two of the three components of the U.S. military’s strategic nuclear strike forces.  His two years of service coincided with the immediate aftermath of the Korean War and the intensification of the Cold War.  This included an extended non-combat deployment to North Africa.

After receiving an honorable discharge from the Air Force with the rank of Capitan in 1957, he returned to Austin and enrolled in the University of Texas School of Law.  He graduated Texas Law in 1959 and was admitted to the Texas Bar later that same year.  While at Texas Law he met and became life-long friends with Donald L. DeCordova, with whom he co-founded the law firm of Crutchfield & DeCordova in Beaumont.  They remained partners until Don’s death in 2002.  Buddy’s law partners in the firm included The Honorable Thad Heartfield, currently Senior U. S. District Judge; the late Anthony Brocato; Tony Chauveaux, currently Deputy Chairman with the U. S. National Endowment for the Arts in Washington D. C.; and current Beaumont Attorney Terry W. Wood.  Buddy’s son Scott joined the firm in 1993 and became partner in 1998.  In 2005, Buddy and Scott joined the Beaumont firm of Germer PLLC, with whom Buddy maintained an active practice until and including the day before his passing.  Buddy earned an impeccable reputation as a true “Gentleman Lawyer” with unique skill and ability.  He was admired and respected not only by his colleagues and clients, but equally so by his office co-workers.  In 2009 the Jefferson County Bar Association presented him the Blackstone Award, its highest annual award.

Shortly after moving to Beaumont, Buddy met Rosalie “Tootsie” Woodhead, and they were married on December 9, 1961.  As dedicated as Buddy was to his law practice, he was even more so to his family.  Buddy and Tootsie traveled together, and also with small groups, to Europe, the Caribbean and the Pacific Coast of Mexico.  While home, Buddy managed to attend nearly all of his sons’ school functions, sporting events and scout campouts.  Later, he regularly attended and enjoyed the stage, music and sporting events of his five grandsons.  Having been raised as a Methodist, he joined First United Methodist Church after arriving in Beaumont.  He served the church in many capacities throughout the years.  Among the many roles he assumed were serving on the committee that built the present day sanctuary in 1968 and later serving a term as Chairman of the Board of Trustees.  In recent years, his faith deepened through his association with a men’s group that meets weekly to study and discuss the history, meaning and context of scripture.

In 1981 Buddy and Tootsie built a beach house at Crystal Beach which became the focal point of family gatherings and entertainment throughout each summer and most weekends during the year.  Whether it was a simple weekend with immediate family, a family reunion gathering of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, or hosting a group of the California Cousins, the days at the beach were filled with fishing, shark tooth hunting, and swimming in the surf.  Evenings or bad weather days included board games, puzzles, and more than a few heated poker games.  Buddy’s “idle time” at the beach was spent making early morning donut runs, performing constant repairs and fixes to the house, battling grass burs in the yard, making multiple trips to Claude’s or the Big Store, or setting up for a large-scale fish fry, at which the occasional margarita was enjoyed.

After Hurricane Ike took the beach house in 2005 and Buddy vowed that the good times we shared at the beach would be replaced by travel, and of course he made good on his word.  The entire family enjoyed trips to Jamaica, and the guys experienced a world class fishing trip to Alaska.  Small-ship cruising became Buddy and Tootsie’s favorite way to explore and experience the regions of Central Europe, the Panama Canal, the Pacific Northwest and the Maine Coast and surrounding region.

Buddy will always be remembered for his dedication to family and to his law practice, and for his intellect, integrity, quick wit, and for never being at a loss for an appropriate (mostly) saying, joke or old family story for any situation or occasion.

Survivors include his wife, Rosalie “Tootsie” Crutchfield; sons, Scott Cohron Crutchfield, and his wife, Tammy, and Barry Cannan Crutchfield and his wife, Rachel; grandchildren, Matthew Cohron Crutchfield, Jordan Wade Crutchfield, Nathan Cannan Crutchfield, Maxwell Arthur Crutchfield, and Alexander Henry Crutchfield; sister, Margaret Crutchfield Lipps and her husband, Delbert A.; brother, John Roy Crutchfield and his wife, Grace; nephews, Gary M. Lipps and Randall A. Lipps; and numerous great and great-great-nieces and nephews. 

Buddy was preceded in death by his parents. 

A gathering of Mr. Crutchfield’s family and friends will be from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m., Thursday, January 2, 2020, at Broussard’s, 2000 McFaddin Avenue, Beaumont. His funeral service will be 1:00 p.m., Friday, January 3, 2020, at First United Methodist Church, 701 Calder Avenue, Beaumont, with a reception immediately following in the Narthex. At a later time, the family will gather for his interment at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Beaumont.