Brian Crawford Memorial Scholarship
A memorial that became an investment in the future—supporting higher education while carrying Brian Allen Crawford's name forward through the students who receive it.
Scholarship tradition: The first award was made by the Crawford family in 2015. The permanent Brian Crawford Memorial Scholarship Fund was formally established with Communities Foundation of Oklahoma in 2016.
A scholarship designed to continue Brian's legacy.
The Brian Crawford Memorial Scholarship grew from the larger memorial effort created after Brian's death in 2005. Education became another way to carry his name forward by helping young people pursue opportunities beyond high school.
The formal endowment agreement became effective April 14, 2016. It established the Brian Crawford Memorial Scholarship Fund and identified its charitable purpose as providing higher-education support to graduating seniors active in band, music or baseball.
The endowment created a permanent financial vehicle for continuing scholarship support.
The scholarship tradition begins.
Before the permanent endowment was finalized, the Crawford family chose not to let Brian's memorial scholarship skip a graduating class. A personally funded $1,300 award became the inaugural scholarship.
Lane Stewart • $1,300
In 2015, the Crawford family awarded the first Brian Crawford Memorial Scholarship to Prague High School senior Lane Stewart. The permanent scholarship structure and selection processes were still being developed, but the family did not want to skip 2015—Lane's senior year.
The award was funded personally by the Crawford family rather than through the later Communities Foundation of Oklahoma endowment. Lane went on to technical school in Okmulgee to pursue training as a utility lineman.
According to Crawford family recollection, Lane frequently volunteered with the Brian Crawford Memorial Tournament, as did his mother. The Stewart family had also been longtime supporters and volunteers in youth sports.
Historical-source note: The 2015 award chronology, Lane's volunteer history and the Stewart family's youth-sports involvement are preserved here as Crawford family historical recollection unless contemporaneous documentation is later added to the archive. The formal endowed fund beginning in 2016 is documented separately.
Building an endowment for the future.
The Brian Crawford Memorial Scholarship Fund is administered through Communities Foundation of Oklahoma. The formal structure created a permanent financial vehicle for continuing the scholarship's charitable purpose beyond the family's inaugural 2015 award.
Financial figures are dated historical snapshots and will change with investment performance, contributions, fees and scholarship distributions. Communities Foundation of Oklahoma records—not this webpage—control current fund accounting.
Supporting students connected to the communities Brian knew.
Educational purpose
The formal scholarship documents identify higher-education support for graduating seniors and students whose activities reflect areas important to Brian's life, including band, music and baseball.
Community connection
The current Communities Foundation of Oklahoma donation page identifies qualifying connections including Prague, Paden, Seminole, Shawnee, Meeker, Choctaw, Dale, Tecumseh, Bethel and Chandler, as well as participation in a Brian Crawford Memorial Baseball Tournament.
Academic standard
The official scholarship criteria preserved in the Memorial archive include a 3.5 GPA requirement together with applicable enrollment and activity requirements.
Formal criteria govern
The scholarship documentation establishes eligibility, selection and renewal standards. Those formal documents should govern applicant and recipient decisions rather than this simplified historical summary.
Managed by Communities Foundation of Oklahoma.
The endowed scholarship fund is managed by Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, providing an institutional framework for contributions, investments and scholarship distributions.
Visitors who wish to contribute can use CFO's official Brian Crawford Memorial Scholarship Fund donation page.
Preserving the scholarship's structure as well as its story.
2016 Fund Agreement
The governing agreement documents the formal creation, charitable purpose and administration of the endowed scholarship fund.
Fund Activity
Communities Foundation of Oklahoma records document contributions, investment activity, fees, balances and scholarship distributions over time.
Recipient Record
The companion recipient archive will preserve the people who received the scholarship, their institutions and available presentation photographs.
Living Archive
This page can be updated as additional original scholarship records, presentation photographs and historical documentation are recovered.
Scholarship Recipients
The recipient archive will preserve the scholarship's human record—from Lane Stewart's inaugural family-funded award in 2015 through recipients documented by the endowed fund, with presentation photographs added where they survive.
Brian Allen Crawford • March 23, 1987 – April 27, 2005 • #13