Jim Crawley, MRE president and founding member, dies

Jim Crawley, the president and a founding member of Military Reporters & Editors, died Tuesday after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Jim’s wife, Melba, reported he died peacefully in his sleep. “He was the most wonderful man in the world,” she said. “I could never have asked for a better husband.”

Jim was our friend, our colleague, and the driving force behind MRE the last few years. When we needed something done, Jim was always there to step in and get it done despite the demands of his job as a national correspondent in Media General newspapers’ Washington bureau.

He will be greatly missed by those of us who knew him and worked with him, by the military community about which he wrote, and by the public that depended on him for his honest and unbiased reporting.

MRE will have its own memorial service for Jim, most likely in conjunction with the conference in the fall.

Editors note: MRE members may read more here.