More detail on this person: Col. (Ret) Ted Archer Crozier, Sr., age 91 of Clarksville, passed
away on Monday, January 9, 2017 at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, January 14, 2017 at Madison Street United
Methodist Church with Rev. Cliff Wright officiating. Burial with full Military Honors will follow at
Greenwood Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Friday, January 13, 2017 at McReynolds-Nave & Larson Funeral Home
and from 11 a.m. until the hour of service on Saturday at Madison Street United Methodist Church.
Ted was born October 27, 1925 in Meriden, CT. to the late Wesley Thomas and Flora Crozier. Ted
retired as Colonel after 32 faithful years of service in the U.S. Army. He served as the first
Aviator Chief of Staff 101st Airborne Division. In 1978, Crozier was elected and served two terms as
Mayor of Clarksville.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 36 years, and the mother of his children, Mary Tom Wall
Crozier.
Survivors include his wife, Betty Newhouse Crozier; sons, Judge Ted Archer Crozier, Jr. and his wife
Ann Marie and Tom Crozier and his wife, Mary Dale; daughter, Kari Rassas and her husband, Mark;
children by marriage, Vicki Ford, Drake Ford, and Jane Ford Roberts and her husband Walter;
grandchildren, Allen Rassas, Tyler Rassas, Clair Crozier Lawson, Thomas Rassas, Lee Rassas, Mary
Tom Crozier, Blake Crozier, Caroline Crozier, Mary Ryan Rassas, Martin Crozier, and William Hale.
His grandsons will serve as Pallbearers. Honorary Pallbearers will be BG (Ret.) Wendell Gilbert,
Gen. (Ret.) Gary Luck, LTG (Ret.) Hugh Smith, Gen. (Ret.) Binnie Peay, Gen. (Ret.) John Wickham,
Col. (Ret.) Tom Denny, BG Paul Bontrager, CSM (Ret.) Robert Nichols, CSM (Ret.) Darol Walker, Bill
Harpel, Phil Harpel, and Jack Turner.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Ted and Mary Tom Crozier Scholarship
Endowment c/o APSU P.O. Box 4177, Clarksville, TN 37044, Wings of Liberty Museum P.O. Box 2133,
Ft. Campbell, KY 42223, or SAFE (Soldiers and Families Embraced) 812 Haynes Street, Clarksville, TN
37043.
Online condolences may be made at NaveFuneralHomes.com.
Published in The Leaf Chronicle on Jan. 11, 2017
Clarksville mourns passing of former Mayor Ted Crozier, Mayor McMillan orders flags flown at
half-staff in his honor, Posted Date: 1/10/2017
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Former Clarksville Mayor Ted Crozier Sr., who devoted his life to family,
country and community, died Monday from a respiratory illness at the age of 91.
Col. Crozier served in the U.S. Army for 32 years, retiring at the rank of colonel in 1977. He
served as the first Commander of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Campbell and was the
first aviator to serve as the chief of staff for the 101st Airborne Division.
In November 1978 Col. Crozier was elected Clarksville Mayor, and was re-elected to a second term in
1982. In all, he would hold the office for eight years. As mayor he is credited with expanding the
city and ensuring economic growth by leading the effort to annex St. Bethlehem in the 1980s. This
move led to the addition of Governor's Square Mall and expansion of the retail district around
Interstate 24 at Exit 4.
To honor Col. Crozier, Mayor Kim McMillan ordered that flags at all city facilities shall be lowered
to half-staff effective immediately and returned to full-staff at sunset on the day of his
interment.
"I'm deeply saddened by the passing of former Mayor Ted Crozier, who was a dear friend and close
adviser to me for many years," Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan said Monday. "Ted gave decades of
honorable service to our country as an Army officer, and his love for Fort Campbell expanded into
his devotion to Clarksville.
"Mayor Crozier and a key group of his Army colleagues understood how drawing Fort Campbell and
Clarksville closer together would be good for both, and he worked tirelessly to close the gap
between the installation and the City.
"Ted helped all of us value the unique relationship between the city and Fort Campbell, and he
inspired me to create a formal Military Liaison office within City Government," Mayor McMillan said.
"He truly was a visionary leader, and one of the architects of the strong and thriving Clarksville
we enjoy today."
Col. Crozier also presided as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Fort Campbell Historical
Foundation and added his expertise and leadership to many local oganizations over the years. A
stretch of roadway connecting Warfield Boulevard and Wilma Rudolph Boulevard bears the name Ted A.
Crozier Sr. Boulevard to honor his legacy.
A Celebration of Life ceremony will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14 at Madison Street United
Methodist Church with Rev. Cliff Wright officiating, according to McReynolds-Nave & Larson Funeral
Home, the mortuary in charge. Burial with full Military Honors will follow at Greenwood Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 2-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 13 at McReynolds-Nave & Larson Funeral Home and from
11 a.m. until the hour of service on Saturday at Madison Street United Methodist Church.
Army Aviation Hall of Fame 1989 Induction
During his 32 years of service Colonel Crozier served continuously in aviation and infantry units
from company through brigade levels. He commanded the 76-aircraft 101st Aviation Company, that
utilized the Army's first UH-1As for field testing, a unit that was later reorganized into the
Army's first aviation battalion.
His Company was the first to demonstrate troop-rappelling from the UH-1A, to use multiple refueling
points, and to use camouflage-painted UH-1As. The 101st Aviation Battalion (Prov) became the model
for future battalions in SOPs, ATTs, etc.
As a LTC(P), Crozier was selected to command and reorganize the division's aviation assets along
with the USARV assets into the 160th Aviation Group (later the 101st Aviation Group), while
maintaining its combat commitments to include the five-division assault into the Ashau Valley. This
one-year task took six months and included a successful Command Maintenance Management
Inspection. During this period the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) was selected as AAAA's "Aviation
Unit of the Year."
He then became Chief of the 16,000-member Aviation Warrant Officer Branch, his many innovative
approaches improving many aspects of AWO management. Later, he served as President of the Army
portion of the DoD Close Air Support Study, which prevented the Army's attack helicopters from being
placed under USAF command and control.
The first Aviator to serve as Chief of Staff of the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT), he was
responsible for all facets of training and the 101st's deployment to Europe for REFORGER 1976.
Crozier still serves the 101st as the first "Honorary Colonel of the 101st Aviation Regiment.
Burial information: Greenwood Cemetery
This information was last updated 01/12/2017
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