Rev. Thomas Calvin Croft, Jr. was born April 6, 1925 in Gadsden, AL to the late Thomas Calvin and Minnie Jackson Croft, Sr.
He received his crown of glory Friday, February 15, 2013.
Rev. Croft leaves to celebrate his life, his wife of 61 years, Margaret Croft; seven children, Jacqueline Croft (Herman) Woods, Glencoe, AL, Theresa Croft (Billy) Johnson, Jerome and Nikki Croft, all of Gadsden, AL, Walisha, Vanessa and Yteria Croft, all of Nashville, TN; seven grandchildren, Diandra Woods, Glencoe, AL, Hannah Woods, Birmingham, AL, Demetricus Johnson, Atlanta, GA, Brooklin Johnson (Jeremy) Graves, Gadsden, AL, DeJuan Johnson, Oakland, CA, Julian Croft, Ft. Hood, TX, Nicholus (Misty) Johnson, Tulsa, OK; three great-granddaughters, Saniya and Jayla Johnson, Gadsden, AL and Jade Croft, New Orleans, LA; one sister, Emma Lee Croft (Horace) Buford, Nashville, TN, a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins; special neighbors, Lena Pointer, The Moore Family, Willie Coleman.
Special Thanks to Dr. Akisanya, Riverview Hospital, Gadsden Health and Rehab Care for your care.
We are so blessed that God Chose to give you to us for 87 years. You lived a wonderfully full life and touched the lives of many and you will forever live in our hearts. Thank you for your legacy of faith, hope and love.
Celebration of Life will be 11:00a.m. Saturday, February 23, 2013 at Friendship Baptist Church, Rev. Earl Dudley, officiating, burial in Lincoln Hill Memorial Park.
**
He served in the US Navy during WWII.
**
In 1935, when Thomas Calvin "T.C." Croft, Jr. was only 10 years old, a lynch mob came to the family's door looking for his 15 year-old brother, Frederick "Fred" Croft [Sr.]. A little white girl in town had been pushed off the porch by a boy, and the girl's father was convinced it was Fred, even though the girl had said repeatedly that it was another boy, and Fred was at work at the time.
Her father gathered a terrorist posse and went to his house to abduct Fred. His father, Thomas Calvin "T.C." Croft, Sr., answered the door and told them Fred was not there. As they departed they threatened they would "be back tonight," which meant only one thing - to lynch him. The black citizens of Gadsden, including T.C. Croft, Sr., had lived through and well-remembered the white terrorism 19 years earlier, with the lynching of another innocent black man, Bunk Richardson (memorial: 136253999), from the Gadsden Railroad Bridge — the same one that crosses the Coosa River today. His body was left hanging for days, for the birds to peck, and for all to see, including the Richardson family as they were terrorized and run out of the city.
After the mob left, Mr. Croft, Sr. quickly told his young son, Thomas, Jr., to run downtown to Fred's workplace and tell him to flee Gadsden - and never come back. Fred escaped to Chattanooga that night, and eventually moved to NYC, where he lived until his death in 1977. He never returned to Gadsden - even to visit.
In the EJI's ( Equal Justice Initiative's) Lynching in America Podcast, "Remembering Fred Croft," Rev. Thomas Clifton Croft, Jr's daughter, Vanessa Croft, recounts that her father never saw his brother again until WWII, when both brothers were serving in the Navy. The reunion finally took place when her father was stationed at Pearl Harbor and Fred's ship docked there. Story here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remembering-fred-croft/id1244297911?i=1000386098412
Rest in Peace....
He received his crown of glory Friday, February 15, 2013.
Rev. Croft leaves to celebrate his life, his wife of 61 years, Margaret Croft; seven children, Jacqueline Croft (Herman) Woods, Glencoe, AL, Theresa Croft (Billy) Johnson, Jerome and Nikki Croft, all of Gadsden, AL, Walisha, Vanessa and Yteria Croft, all of Nashville, TN; seven grandchildren, Diandra Woods, Glencoe, AL, Hannah Woods, Birmingham, AL, Demetricus Johnson, Atlanta, GA, Brooklin Johnson (Jeremy) Graves, Gadsden, AL, DeJuan Johnson, Oakland, CA, Julian Croft, Ft. Hood, TX, Nicholus (Misty) Johnson, Tulsa, OK; three great-granddaughters, Saniya and Jayla Johnson, Gadsden, AL and Jade Croft, New Orleans, LA; one sister, Emma Lee Croft (Horace) Buford, Nashville, TN, a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins; special neighbors, Lena Pointer, The Moore Family, Willie Coleman.
Special Thanks to Dr. Akisanya, Riverview Hospital, Gadsden Health and Rehab Care for your care.
We are so blessed that God Chose to give you to us for 87 years. You lived a wonderfully full life and touched the lives of many and you will forever live in our hearts. Thank you for your legacy of faith, hope and love.
Celebration of Life will be 11:00a.m. Saturday, February 23, 2013 at Friendship Baptist Church, Rev. Earl Dudley, officiating, burial in Lincoln Hill Memorial Park.
**
He served in the US Navy during WWII.
**
In 1935, when Thomas Calvin "T.C." Croft, Jr. was only 10 years old, a lynch mob came to the family's door looking for his 15 year-old brother, Frederick "Fred" Croft [Sr.]. A little white girl in town had been pushed off the porch by a boy, and the girl's father was convinced it was Fred, even though the girl had said repeatedly that it was another boy, and Fred was at work at the time.
Her father gathered a terrorist posse and went to his house to abduct Fred. His father, Thomas Calvin "T.C." Croft, Sr., answered the door and told them Fred was not there. As they departed they threatened they would "be back tonight," which meant only one thing - to lynch him. The black citizens of Gadsden, including T.C. Croft, Sr., had lived through and well-remembered the white terrorism 19 years earlier, with the lynching of another innocent black man, Bunk Richardson (memorial: 136253999), from the Gadsden Railroad Bridge — the same one that crosses the Coosa River today. His body was left hanging for days, for the birds to peck, and for all to see, including the Richardson family as they were terrorized and run out of the city.
After the mob left, Mr. Croft, Sr. quickly told his young son, Thomas, Jr., to run downtown to Fred's workplace and tell him to flee Gadsden - and never come back. Fred escaped to Chattanooga that night, and eventually moved to NYC, where he lived until his death in 1977. He never returned to Gadsden - even to visit.
In the EJI's ( Equal Justice Initiative's) Lynching in America Podcast, "Remembering Fred Croft," Rev. Thomas Clifton Croft, Jr's daughter, Vanessa Croft, recounts that her father never saw his brother again until WWII, when both brothers were serving in the Navy. The reunion finally took place when her father was stationed at Pearl Harbor and Fred's ship docked there. Story here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remembering-fred-croft/id1244297911?i=1000386098412
Rest in Peace....
Rev. Thomas Calvin Croft, Jr. was born April 6, 1925 in Gadsden, AL to the late Thomas Calvin and Minnie Jackson Croft, Sr.
He received his crown of glory Friday, February 15, 2013.
Rev. Croft leaves to celebrate his life, his wife of 61 years, Margaret Croft; seven children, Jacqueline Croft (Herman) Woods, Glencoe, AL, Theresa Croft (Billy) Johnson, Jerome and Nikki Croft, all of Gadsden, AL, Walisha, Vanessa and Yteria Croft, all of Nashville, TN; seven grandchildren, Diandra Woods, Glencoe, AL, Hannah Woods, Birmingham, AL, Demetricus Johnson, Atlanta, GA, Brooklin Johnson (Jeremy) Graves, Gadsden, AL, DeJuan Johnson, Oakland, CA, Julian Croft, Ft. Hood, TX, Nicholus (Misty) Johnson, Tulsa, OK; three great-granddaughters, Saniya and Jayla Johnson, Gadsden, AL and Jade Croft, New Orleans, LA; one sister, Emma Lee Croft (Horace) Buford, Nashville, TN, a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins; special neighbors, Lena Pointer, The Moore Family, Willie Coleman.
Special Thanks to Dr. Akisanya, Riverview Hospital, Gadsden Health and Rehab Care for your care.
We are so blessed that God Chose to give you to us for 87 years. You lived a wonderfully full life and touched the lives of many and you will forever live in our hearts. Thank you for your legacy of faith, hope and love.
Celebration of Life will be 11:00a.m. Saturday, February 23, 2013 at Friendship Baptist Church, Rev. Earl Dudley, officiating, burial in Lincoln Hill Memorial Park.
**
He served in the US Navy during WWII.
**
In 1935, when Thomas Calvin "T.C." Croft, Jr. was only 10 years old, a lynch mob came to the family's door looking for his 15 year-old brother, Frederick "Fred" Croft [Sr.]. A little white girl in town had been pushed off the porch by a boy, and the girl's father was convinced it was Fred, even though the girl had said repeatedly that it was another boy, and Fred was at work at the time.
Her father gathered a terrorist posse and went to his house to abduct Fred. His father, Thomas Calvin "T.C." Croft, Sr., answered the door and told them Fred was not there. As they departed they threatened they would "be back tonight," which meant only one thing - to lynch him. The black citizens of Gadsden, including T.C. Croft, Sr., had lived through and well-remembered the white terrorism 19 years earlier, with the lynching of another innocent black man, Bunk Richardson (memorial: 136253999), from the Gadsden Railroad Bridge — the same one that crosses the Coosa River today. His body was left hanging for days, for the birds to peck, and for all to see, including the Richardson family as they were terrorized and run out of the city.
After the mob left, Mr. Croft, Sr. quickly told his young son, Thomas, Jr., to run downtown to Fred's workplace and tell him to flee Gadsden - and never come back. Fred escaped to Chattanooga that night, and eventually moved to NYC, where he lived until his death in 1977. He never returned to Gadsden - even to visit.
In the EJI's ( Equal Justice Initiative's) Lynching in America Podcast, "Remembering Fred Croft," Rev. Thomas Clifton Croft, Jr's daughter, Vanessa Croft, recounts that her father never saw his brother again until WWII, when both brothers were serving in the Navy. The reunion finally took place when her father was stationed at Pearl Harbor and Fred's ship docked there. Story here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remembering-fred-croft/id1244297911?i=1000386098412
Rest in Peace....
He received his crown of glory Friday, February 15, 2013.
Rev. Croft leaves to celebrate his life, his wife of 61 years, Margaret Croft; seven children, Jacqueline Croft (Herman) Woods, Glencoe, AL, Theresa Croft (Billy) Johnson, Jerome and Nikki Croft, all of Gadsden, AL, Walisha, Vanessa and Yteria Croft, all of Nashville, TN; seven grandchildren, Diandra Woods, Glencoe, AL, Hannah Woods, Birmingham, AL, Demetricus Johnson, Atlanta, GA, Brooklin Johnson (Jeremy) Graves, Gadsden, AL, DeJuan Johnson, Oakland, CA, Julian Croft, Ft. Hood, TX, Nicholus (Misty) Johnson, Tulsa, OK; three great-granddaughters, Saniya and Jayla Johnson, Gadsden, AL and Jade Croft, New Orleans, LA; one sister, Emma Lee Croft (Horace) Buford, Nashville, TN, a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins; special neighbors, Lena Pointer, The Moore Family, Willie Coleman.
Special Thanks to Dr. Akisanya, Riverview Hospital, Gadsden Health and Rehab Care for your care.
We are so blessed that God Chose to give you to us for 87 years. You lived a wonderfully full life and touched the lives of many and you will forever live in our hearts. Thank you for your legacy of faith, hope and love.
Celebration of Life will be 11:00a.m. Saturday, February 23, 2013 at Friendship Baptist Church, Rev. Earl Dudley, officiating, burial in Lincoln Hill Memorial Park.
**
He served in the US Navy during WWII.
**
In 1935, when Thomas Calvin "T.C." Croft, Jr. was only 10 years old, a lynch mob came to the family's door looking for his 15 year-old brother, Frederick "Fred" Croft [Sr.]. A little white girl in town had been pushed off the porch by a boy, and the girl's father was convinced it was Fred, even though the girl had said repeatedly that it was another boy, and Fred was at work at the time.
Her father gathered a terrorist posse and went to his house to abduct Fred. His father, Thomas Calvin "T.C." Croft, Sr., answered the door and told them Fred was not there. As they departed they threatened they would "be back tonight," which meant only one thing - to lynch him. The black citizens of Gadsden, including T.C. Croft, Sr., had lived through and well-remembered the white terrorism 19 years earlier, with the lynching of another innocent black man, Bunk Richardson (memorial: 136253999), from the Gadsden Railroad Bridge — the same one that crosses the Coosa River today. His body was left hanging for days, for the birds to peck, and for all to see, including the Richardson family as they were terrorized and run out of the city.
After the mob left, Mr. Croft, Sr. quickly told his young son, Thomas, Jr., to run downtown to Fred's workplace and tell him to flee Gadsden - and never come back. Fred escaped to Chattanooga that night, and eventually moved to NYC, where he lived until his death in 1977. He never returned to Gadsden - even to visit.
In the EJI's ( Equal Justice Initiative's) Lynching in America Podcast, "Remembering Fred Croft," Rev. Thomas Clifton Croft, Jr's daughter, Vanessa Croft, recounts that her father never saw his brother again until WWII, when both brothers were serving in the Navy. The reunion finally took place when her father was stationed at Pearl Harbor and Fred's ship docked there. Story here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remembering-fred-croft/id1244297911?i=1000386098412
Rest in Peace....
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