Stanley J. McCrudden

Stanley John McCrudden, “Little Stan,” “Mclovin,” “Stanta,” “the Gentle Giant,” as my sister lovingly said, and my personal favorite he was my “old dude dad.” He was a man of many names to many of us over the years. My dad was born on September 27th 1970 to Stan and Marilyn (Kall) McCrudden in Clinton, IA. From the very beginning, his life was filled with love, laughter, and connection, growing up in the close-knit village of Thomson, Illinois. Growing up it always felt like my dad knew everyone everywhere that we went, a run to the gas station, the grocery story, Manny’s for pizzas and tacos just wherever we went there was always someone to stop and say hello.

When he was younger, he loved basketball, a passion passed down from his father, Coach or Big Stan, and he carried deep pride in the history of the year little Thomson made it to state and in general he just had so much pride for the area he called his home.

My dad lived his life like a well-loved song: rooted in family, rich with stories, and always meant to be shared. His love of music brought people together and made moments unforgettable. Over the years, his love for music adapted from 8-tracks to CDs to Napster/LimeWire and eventually a sizeable iTunes library, but vinyl was forever and always his favorite. There are fond memories for so many of live concerts, some even hosted out at “the Pond.” Seeing him continue to explore a wide variety of artists throughout the years especially with the help of YouTube pretty cool. He would show you a video of Ren, a British rapper who does street performances, followed by Lindsey Stirling dancing it up with her violin, he adored her music. He also loved live music from festivals and concerts to little performances especially his best friend Grant just singing around a bon fire, and I know those nights live in so many of our memories. I am also sure there are so many memories of my dad during “Camp Freedom week” where the music was blasted so loud, I can remember the Jimi Hendrix version of the Star Spangled Banner on the 4th of July echoing through the bluff as loud as he could make it! A favorite memory of all of us kids is probably the song, “Some Kind of Wonderful,” would play, and Stan would love when Seth would sing it loud and proud even with the wrong lyrics: “Can I get a WHIPPIN,” instead of “Can I get a witness.” Even after we moved out he would play it and sing it wrong while remembering us. Stan also introduced us kids to the magic of musical comedy with works such as Fish Heads a Dr. Demento classic as Phillip recalled. Occasionally, he even made up his own little songs for us kids too. If there was anyway to honor Stan, some good tunes with loved one would be where it is at.

Throughout our childhoods, Stan, my dad, taught us so much about nature and life. Camping, gardening and food preservation. I will miss my dad’s homemade salsa more than anything mine never even comes close. He taught us all so much about different plants, trees, animals, so much about living on the land, he taught us to fish, to hunt, to shoot, how to be avid Morel hunters and more all while teaching us to be good people and good to each other. I know there are probably so many out there with the best camping memories thanks to him he allowed so many people to come out and camp in his little sliver of paradise.

Stan was so smart. He often said he had a photographic memory, and as his daughter, I remember how great he was at math. He could do sales-ad math at the grocery store in his head so fast. I remember Seth and I getting yelled at a lot for being too loud when he was trying to think but as a mom now, I get it. This came with creative punishments like making us hug the rest of the way in the store if we fought. He also pushed us to think outside the box and to be creative. One of my all-time favorite memories that my dad still loved to bring up was the time I had to do a “how-to speech.” His genius idea was to do a “how-to” on how to fail your speech. I stood with my back turned to the class for two minutes, turned around, and said, “And that’s how you fail your speech.” I got an A+, and he was proud for years.

I am not surprised he worked his way up after so many years at Metform into the roles he had over the various years, I know that he took so much pride in his work and all that he mentored and worked with over the years. My dad also had an adventurous spirit and loved to travel, I am so thankful he had an opportunity to see some cool places Jerusalem, Japan, and Poland to name a few, I know those trips were highlights of life for him.

I have enjoyed nothing more in my adulthood than watching him embrace the role of Santa at the holidays, with Kris as his Mrs. Claus by his side. I know that this gave him so much joy because he was spreading joy to all the little kids. I know in my heart that this filled a void in his because all of us kids had to go and grow up. This was his way to keep holiday magic in his heart and for others. Christmas will always be a reminder of the man my dad was in his heart. Even before his Santa days, Stan always had someway of making Christmas and Wintertime magical be it the year he spray painted the snow green for me because I missed the grass, the year we got a 4 wheeler, the sledding and ice skating we did at “the Pond,” it is all a childhood my dad blessed us with. Together, over the years, they raised five of us kids but truly, it was many more. There was never a friend of ours who wasn’t welcome in a time of need. Stan would have given the shirt off his back to anyone. It’s probably why he so often wasn’t wearing a shirt at all. He had one of the biggest hearts so many of us have ever known. It was this that inspired me to become a social worker—to help anyone and everyone, no matter who they were, where they came from, or what they had done. Everyone deserved kindness and help when it was needed. Stan embodied this in his life in a way that I am so proud of him for.

In recent years, if he wasn’t playing Santa, he was playing darts with his dart league or golfing at benefits, spending time with his grandkids or other family whenever he could. He enjoyed helping out with various things at the Moose in Savanna, especially at pizza taco nights.

When my mother-in-law called to give me her condolences, I truly believe that she said it best, “you had a larger-than-life dad,” to know him was to love him and to be loved by him, he was all about the love. In writing this, I felt like I could say so much more, and I also felt like I wrote far too much, a friend said, “You just can’t cut your dad’s life short.” So I hope everyone who his life touched can help us honor him at Majestic Pines, Saturday the 27th at noon for a Celebration of Life, or as I think my dad would like to say – one last party with him. Stop in and share a memory with us! Dart sign up to start at 1 and darts to start at 2.

I know somewhere he is up there with his record player in paradise spinning some good tunes something like Jimmy Buffet or Johnny Cash, he is jamming out with Coach, Larry Keenan, Curt Pidde, Moby (Micheal Allen), and Phil Hamm (Indian) and I just know that they’re all having a nice cold beer together for the first time in a long while.

Stan is proceeded in death by both parents. He leaves behind his loving wife Kristine Bentley, they were married 10/07/2002. His children: Phillip Cassaday (Elizabeth Rexroat) of Clinton IA, Kia (Shawn Bluhm) of Mount Morris IL, Seth (Madalyn) Bentley-Holst of Clinton IA, Kassandra Weltzin (Jakob Heide) of Thomson IL, Jacinda McCrudden (Damian Sedivy) of Savanna IL. His beautiful granddaughters; Charlotte, Luna, Nova, Kalicia, Taytym, and Emery. His handsome grandsons; Paxton, Fischer and Ashton. He also leaves behind one brother, Sean McCrudden of Davenport IA, and two sisters Sherry (Terry) Fife of Clinton IA, and Sandy (Al) Dierckman of Monroe WI. And many, many more nieces, nephews, cousins and so many friends.