William “Bill” Edward Crabtree, 72, of Owensboro passed away Wednesday at Deaconess Gateway Hospital. Born October 11, 1946 in Daviess County to the late Welby Crabtree and Lillian Pearl Wade Crabtree, Bill grew up on a farm, graduating from Daviess County High School and then attending WKU before receiving his degree from Kentucky Wesleyan College. He was a devoted member of First Baptist Church. Bill led a very productive life and was an exceptionally talented golfer which led him to join the PGA tour taking him all over the world playing professional golf including the British Open. He later became a much sought after golf instructor at Christmas Lake in Santa Claus, Indiana then Paducah, Kentucky, and High Pointe, N. Carolina. Bill spent 7 years as an instructor in China where he had several of his students receive scholarships to Yale, Stanford, and Arizona. While in China, he also met his future wife, Ying. His expertise enabled him to author two golf books and numerous golf magazine articles, design several different golf clubs, and invent “The Synchronizer”, a device that helps a person with their golf swing. He was also the co-founder of Golf Land in Owensboro and the coach of the girls golf team at KWC. Bill also loved baseball (NY Yankees) and barbequing. He owned several restaurants in Nashville and Greenville.
In addition to his parents, Mr. Crabtree also was preceded in death by his Aunt Golda and Uncle Dee Kirkendoll.
Those left to cherish his memory include his wife of 13 years, Ying Zhang; daughter, Jami Morris and husband Eric; step daughter, Jing An; 9 grandchildren, William and Wesley Cooper, Braylon, Collin, Cameron, and Easton Morris, Sophia and Ryan Wang, Alissa An; sisters, Ruth Lentz (Charles) and Linda Young (Don).
The funeral service for Bill Crabtree will be 2:00 pm Saturday at Glenn Funeral Home and Crematory where visitation will be from 11:00 am until time of service. Burial will be in Owensboro Memorial Gardens.
Expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to First Baptist Church Mission Fund and the Owensboro Humane Society.
Memories and condolences for the family of Bill Crabtree may be shared at www.glenncares.com