In Memory

David Crittenden

David Crittenden, much loved son of Dick and the late Barbara Crittenden, was born on February 1, 1952 and died in Austin on July 31, 2012. David grew up in Houston and attended Bellaire High School. He arrived in Austin in 1970 to attend UT; like so many others he never left, finding his true home here in Austin, his heart lodged firmly south of the river. David graduated with a degree in Anthropology from UT, and for the rest of his life shared his encyclopedic knowledge of human cultures with anyone who was interested. His passion for literary, musical and cinematic creativity burned strong throughout his life; he was especially an astute and enthusiastic critic of film and music. A longtime member of the Austin Film Society, in recent years he religiously attended most of the society's Tuesday night film series. David worked for many years at IRS, but eventually settled at The University of Texas at Austin where he worked for 23 years, most recently as purchasing administrator for the Department of Aerospace Engineering. He loved his work and was good at it. His coworkers in UT Aerospace and his neighbors at the Kenwood Avenue duplex in Travis Heights were his second family. For many years he partied with great gusto by the little pool out back, refining the art of the grill and enjoying spirited and increasingly ridiculous conversations with his friends. He was the life of the party and loved creature comforts above all. David loved and collected records, CDs, cookware and cookbooks, Frankoma pottery, and historical Austin music posters among other things, and only wished he had more money and more space for all the stuff he lusted after. David's life ended too soon, when he was only 60 years of age; his body could not handle all the fun he had. David is pre-deceased by his mother, Barbara Crittenden. He is survived by his father, Dick Crittenden, sister Delancey Spain and her husband Larry of Midlothian, Texas, and their children Michael and Sarah. He is also survived by several old friends in Austin, who loved him and will remember him as family until the end of their days.
 



 
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10/01/14 04:51 PM #1    

Mark Lee

In 7th grade, Dave and I went to a Saturday matinee at Bellaire theatre. He had done this before.

We watched a triple horror feature. I enjoyed the movies, but when we left the theatre the sun hurt my eyes.

For Halloween Dave had a Horror House in his garage. I told my parents next Halloween I wanted a Horror House in our garage like Dave. My mother panicked. She thought I said whore house. My dad told her I said horror house.                                                                                                                                                                   

In 8th grade English class at Jane Long we selected a book to read for a report. Dave read " Ivan the Terrible". I read"The Prince and the Pauper".

As seniors at Bellaire, I got the Rolling Stones "Beggar's Banquet". I took the album over to Dave's house. He had a really good Sony sound system. He liked to play it full volume for maximum effect. He also played the Rock Opera "Tommy". I liked it so much I got concert tickets for the Who. I went with Nancy Glass. The concert was one of the best I ever experienced. There was so much energy.

Jeffrey Lam had a late night graduation party at his parents'  restaurant in Westbury Square. The drinks were flowing. I celebrated too much. Dave became the designated driver and drove me home in my parents' car.

In the summer of '72, we went to two Kool Concerts at the Astrodome. We saw Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Herbie Hancock, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, The Pointer Sisters, and much more. The audience was 99.9 percent Black. Dave's Volkswagon was probably the only one in the parking lot. We were on purple micro dot.

At UT in Austin we were doobie brothers for awhile. We smoked opium too. We knew about Coleridge and Xanadu. I read "The Doors of Perception" by Aldous Huxley. We took mescaline as a scientific experiment.Things seemed to glow.

Dave bought the books "Slaughter House Five" and "A Clockwork Orange" . We read them before we saw the movies. My dog used "Clockwork Orange" as a chew toy and did some ultra violence to it.

Dave had a great appreciation for the Arts, Music, and Movies. He was a critic like Roger Ebert. He was passionate about what he liked. He liked DADA. He liked Jefferson Airplane. He liked classical music. He liked "Citizen Kane". Rosebud. DC/ RIP.

 

 

 p


10/01/14 05:34 PM #2    

Rick Hewitt

thank you mark for confirming the after graduation party at jeffery lam's parents' place in westbury square ... i was there with debby taylor and tried to get confirmation from anyone else on the alumni site on facebook...to no avail... we weren't there nearly as long as you and david, but we did stop by 


10/02/14 07:33 AM #3    

Craig Hughes

I can also confirm Jeff's party. Our group arrived too late to participate but it must have been out of bounds. Rob Reeder and Jeff were crawling out from beneath the table and chairs. Jeff had his tie tied around his head like a Samuri warrior. It must have been one for the record books.

10/02/14 03:42 PM #4    

Mark Lee

Thanks for the recollections on Jeff's party. I remember seeing Rick and Debby.By the time they got there a lot of students were in the ozone. They used good common sense and didn't stay long. Craig helped my memory. I think Robin was helping Jeff be a host. I do remember Jeff wearing the tie as head gear. It was very funny, like something out of Saturday Night Live, which didn't exist at the time. Security came by to see what was happening. By that time things had turned into a circus. I thought we all might be arrested.I remember being under a table. Pug and Janet Larson were sitting in chairs. Pug showed me the centerfold of Play Boy. I looked really sick. Janet thought this was very funny. Jeff's party for me turned into a celebration to Bacchus. I'd had mostly white wine. As a rites of passage,Jeff's party was a real success. I remember running out into the parking lot and falling down. I started banging my fists against the concrete, but not hard enough to hurt myself.I started saying ,"GD the pusher man."I was thinking of the Steppen Wolf song that John Kay sang. It was used in Easy Rider. Dave helped pick me up. I think he said I was being melodramatic. Thank goodness he was sober enough to drive me home.

 


10/02/14 04:34 PM #5    

Rick Hewitt

amazing how the brain works... i remembered dropping by the party...but nothing about it ...until craig mentioned that about jeff and the samurai head covering...  that i remember with a little help from my friend...highlarious!!! thanks craig 


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