Robert Pepper Crutcher
September, 1931 (Frankfort, KY) – August 5, 2018 (Oxford, MS)
He was raised in what had been the gardener’s cottage behind the Pepper mansion in old Frankfort, the home of his maternal grandmother. The Pepper family had a mischievous pet monkey, Mike, who liked to ride pigs, rodeo style, holding the ears as reins. But we digress.
After life took him away from Elkhorn Creek (near Frankfort), Bob Crutcher’s favorite place was his garden. His favorite people were his family. His favorite labor was cross-examination. The more cross, the better.
After he retired from the Department of Justice (1998), telemarketers, customer service representatives, retail clerks, cable guys, tech support staff and others ill-prepared for the role had to stand-in for the hostile witnesses who had been schooled by John Farese, Joe Pegram (whom he loved to taunt with poetry), Jim Waide and other worthy adversaries. Few saw it coming, bless their hearts.
As far as we know, Bob was the only person ever expelled from adult day care for plotting a coup. Yes, really. It all started with his fondness for the songs of Stephen Collins Foster. But again, we digress.
He taught us hard work, attention to detail, soil preparation (he had a secret formula), fishing, shooting straight and telling stories that ended up straight but meandered on the way so as to gather a crowd.
Harter Williams Crutcher (wife, of Oxford), Pepper Crutcher (son, wife Cindy, of Ridgeland, MS), Paul Crutcher (son, wife Nancy, of Fredericksburg, VA), Bo Crutcher (grandson, wife Nicole, of Santa Clarita, CA), Robert Crutcher (grandson, wife Alice, of Bethesda, MD), Sarah Catherine Morrow (granddaughter, husband Michael, of Sugar Land, TX), David Crutcher (grandson, of Nashville, TN), and Emily Young (granddaughter, husband Rob, also of Nashville, TN) wish to thank his surviving law partners from the Holly Springs years: Billy Spencer, Rook Moore, and Gene Brown. They know why. (It was heredity; Bob’s father refused to leave “$CASH LUMBER CO.$” in Holly Springs until he spoke to “Mr. Cash.”) Special thanks go to the staff of Brookdale Oxford who cared for Bob in the last two years of this life. Most other folks wouldn’t understand that being called a “constipated rattlesnake” is just an old lawyer’s way of provoking a lively conversation with someone he considers worth the sport. We also thank his Kindred Hospice nurse, Courtney.
Burial will be in the cemetery of College Hill Presbyterian Church at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, August 9, 2018, followed by a memorial service in the Sanctuary with Reverend Justin McGuire officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family requests gifts to College Hill Presbyterian Church (where he was an Elder), 339 County Road 102 Oxford, MS 38655, or the Regent’s School (which he helped found, also at College Hill), 339 County Road 102 Oxford, MS 38655. We will remember him by keeping the Frankfort family tradition of telling his stories, and those of others long passed, in the present tense, as if he’s in the room with us, because maybe he is.
For further information or to leave an online condolence, please call 662.234.7971 or visit www.wallerfuneralhome.com.
paid obituary