Palestine High School Alumni Association

08 / 09 / 1935  –  01 / 29 / 2010

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Oliver Howell Crittenden, 74, of Palestine, Texas, died Friday morning, January 22, 2010 at the Inn at Summerville in Zanesville, Ohio.

Mr. Crittenden was born at Palestine, Texas, August 9, 1935 to Otis Smith Crittenden Sr., and Catherine A. Dicarlo Crittenden.  He was a member of the 1953 graduating class of Palestine High School, and a 1957 graduate of Texas A and M University where he was a four year member of the Corps of Cadets. Immediately after graduating, he entered the United States Army with a regular army commission as a Second Lieutenant Combat Armored Officer.  He retired in 1977 20 years later as a Lieutenant Colonel. His distinguished career included two tours of combat duty in Vietnam as an advisor to the South Vietnamese Army as well as assignments at the Pentagon.

Following his retirement from the Army, he became a Systems Safety Engineer with NASA. He retired from that position in 2000 and returned to his home town of Palestine. Mr. Crittenden was a lifelong member of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church of Palestine. He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Travis Howell Crittenden; and a sister, Catherine M. Blankenship.

He is survived by two daughters, Camela Ann Crittenden of Richmond, Va. and Merrit Lee Jackson and husband Clint of Midlothian, Va.; a granddaughter, Haylee Jean Jackson; a brother, Otis Crittenden and wife Susan of Nashport, Ohio; several nieces and nephews; and a special friend, Sharon Davis of Palestine.

Memorial services will be conducted in Palestine, Texas at a later date.

The family requests memorials be made to Fisher House Foundations Inc., 111 Rockville Pike; Suite 420, Rockville, MD 20850-5168; www.fisherhouse.org or a charity of your choice.

Palestine Herald Press 01 / 31 / 2010