Funeral Service for Franklin Hasting Crawford, Wakinyan Tanka, "Big Thunder", 84, of Sisseton, SD will be held on Saturday, March 29, 2014 at 11:00 AM at the Tribal Community Center, Agency Village, SD with the Rev. Clifford Chanku, Jr. Heminger CLP and JC Crawford officiating. Pianists will be Kay Bursheim and Rachel Sine. Pallbearers will be Joseph, Alec, and Aaron Erdrich, Nicholas Schaller, Zion Zetina, Samuel Sine, Will Crawford, Jeremiah Jandreau, Richard Varnes Jr., and Chris Schaller. Honorary Pallbearers will be Franklin Keeble, Orson Bernard, David Seaboy, Ralph Erdrich, DelRay German, Nick Crawford, Edwayne Crawford, Feliz Johnson, Russell Hawkins, Kenny Harlan, Ron DuMarce, Jonas Keeble, Todd Kampeska, and Carl Lufkins, and All of Franklin's Friends and Relaitves. Wake Services will be held at the Tribal Community Center at 7:00 P.M. on Thursday and Friday. The Cahill Funeral Chapel of Sisseton, SD is in charge of arrangements.

Franklin Hasting Crawford was born November 7 ^th , 1929 in rural Roberts County to Evelyn DuMarce Crawford and Samuel John Crawford. He was the sixth of nine Crawford children, two of whom died in infancy. Franklin passed into Spirit on Tuesday March 25 ^th , 2014 at Sanford Health in Aberdeen, South Dakota surrounded by his family of four generations. Franklin was the last of his siblings to join the family in the Spirit World. Grade school for Franklin was at the one room school house, Bosko #2 in Bosko Township. As a little boy, Franklin was used to walking several miles to school and back, and sometimes in bad weather. On one cold blustery winter day, he and his brother and one of his sisters were walking back home after school when the wind chill became too much for the other two. He led them to a haystack, dug a hole, put them inside, covered them and ran for home. He got his dad and they drove the family vehicle to the haystack in the field and rescued his siblings. Franklin was all of eight years old. In May of 1948, Frank graduated from Veblen High School. He had many friends in school, some of whom he maintained lifelong contact with. Although he was very athletic and fit, Frank was not allowed to join sports or the military due to his duties of running his mother's farm seven miles out in the country. He did however, win an art contest for his drawing abilities and also took the lead role in the senior class play. He worked during the summers on their farm and others in the surrounding area which forged an extremely strong work ethic and an appreciation for the dollar bill. He and others of his era knew it was not easy to come by. Franklin grew up to fall in love with and marry Amy White with whom he had six children two sons and four beautiful daughters, all of whom are extraordinary in their own right. His children are, Bryan Akipa, Debra Crawford, Dr. Lois Crawford, Teri Erdrich, Evelyn Akipa and Charles Crawford. After a short stint on the Relocation Program in the Los Angeles area, Franklin, Amy and their newborn son Bryan came back South Dakota where they settled in Huron. Franklin was employed at Armor Meat Packing Plant for 20 years. In the early days when their car was on the blink, the children remember him rising at 4:00 am to be to Armors at 6:00 am and work a 12 hour shift. He would walk back across town from the northeast to the west side of town in all kinds of weather. As a handsome and dashing young man with his hair slicked back and leather jacket, he proudly rode his Harley Davidson 74 cubic inch Knucklehead with a hand shifter with fish tail pipes. He also purchased a black 1962 Impala Super Sport with a 300 horse power 327 cubic inch engine. It had a 4-speed transmission with posi-traction rear end. The red leather gleamed as he would cruise listening to Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino. Growing up working tractors and farm equipment made him an amazing mechanic and stirred his interest in bikes and cars. After he retired from Armors on a disability, he came back to the Lake Traverse Reservation and purchased a Winnebago camper that he took his family and nephew on a trip to Alaska in. They stayed on the road for several weeks and made it to the border of Alaska and missed the ferry by 90 minutes. But the camper slept eight, was self-contained and the whole family enjoyed fishing, seeing bear, elk and moose in the wild. Franklin later converted the camper in to a giant "ice-cube" and in his natural entrepreneurial spirit took it on the pow wow trail as a concession stand for several years. He loved figuring out ways to make a business and trying to perfect different techniques, whether it was in agronomy and hominy seed development, or fry bread making. In his later years, Franklin was very active with his hobbies in agronomy and bingo. He had a special place as a lucky bingo player, next to his cousin Kaye. The bingo crowd knew him as very lucky. Frank is survived by all six children and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. Franklin will be missed by his family and friends, by the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, and by the Sisseton community. May he rest in peace.

Franklin is survived by six children, Bryan Akipa of Sisseton, SD, Debbie Crawford and Peter Warhol of Sisseton, SD, Dr. Lois Crawford of Sisseton, SD, Teri and Ralph Erdrich of Sisseton, SD, Evelyn Akipa and Donovan Dixon of Sisseton, SD, and Charles Crawford of Sisseton, SD; and seventeen grandchildren, and twelve great-grandchildren.

Franklin was preceded in death by his parents, two grandchildren, Michel Erdrich and Emmy Poorman-Akipa; one brother, Cyrus Crawford; and six sisters, Lillian Crawford, Pauline Crawford, Mae Harlan, Emma Neilson, Blossom Keeble, and Evelyn Dwimoh.

For Franklin's obituary and on-line registry please visit www.cahillfuneralchapel.com