Donald Lee Crabtree was born on August 29, 1934 to Clifford and Elaine Crabtree in Queen City Missouri. He lived his entire life in Queen City except for a short time in Kirksville Missouri. He passed away April 16, 2026 at the Schuyler County Nursing Home, where he had been a patient for a short time.

When Donnie was 10 years old, his mother died and he then lived with his grandparents Bun and Surd Caswell. He always felt much gratitude for all the love he received from them after the passing of his mother.

While attending high school in Queen City, he participated in baseball and basketball, earning the honor of starting as a freshman on the sports teams. He put a lot of work into his game and continued to follow sports all his life.

On December 7, 1956, he married Barbara Jean Snowbarger at the Queen City United Methodist Church. To their marriage four children were born who survive them. In 1959 they purchased their home in Queen City, where they raised their family and gardened and attended many ball games. Don enjoyed small town life and lived in the family home until his death.

Don worked as a supervisor for many years for International Shoe Company in Kirksville. He made many lifelong friends throughout his career with Florsheim shoes. He enjoyed annually attending St. Louis Cardinal ball games with fellow coworkers. He was a lifelong Cardinal fan. He had a very good memory for statistics and being able to spot an exceptional athlete very quickly. He spent many hours listening to Cardinal games on his transistor radio. He enjoyed the Mark McGwire era! He traveled with a group of friends to many major league ball parks one summer. This was a very exciting trip for him spanning the West Coast to the East Coast. He often said he hit all of them except for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

When he was a young man, he became a licensed MSHSAA official and refereed/umpired many basketball and baseball games around the area. He coached for several years with the Queen City Little League and worked on the fields and umpired. He had a fierce sense of competition.

Many fun weekends were had playing Fastpitch softball in neighboring small towns with a local team of sports guys that enjoyed playing ball together. Many of his sports teammates called him Zeke or Crabby. Some of his family members nicknamed him Dandy. Several of his fast pitch teammates attended professional football games annually together and stayed in touch for several decades. In later years, Don had a lot of great times attending the softball and basketball games of his granddaughter Kelli. He held the sole honor in the family of attending all of the basketball games Kelli participated in when she played for Truman State University.

Don also enjoyed hunting and fishing and teaching his sons the love of nature and the sport of hunting. He trained several German short hair dogs for quail hunting. His grandchildren remember trips to the river to wade in the water and look for rocks. Wiener roasts and target shooting were lots of fun for all involved. Eating at Buddy's in Lancaster was a grandchildren favorite. He will be sadly missed by his family.

Don received his 50 year pin from the Queen City Masonic Lodge several years ago. He often did degree work and spent many hours studying and memorizing passages in preparation for the degree work of the Lodge. He was very happy that his sons joined him in the Masonic Lodge work.

Don was preceded in death by his mother and father, his beloved grandparents who raised him, and his wife, Barbara.

He is survived by his four children, Joni (Roger) Halley, Sue Floyd, Dennis and David Crabtree. He is also survived by his grandchildren Laura Beth Carlton, Dallas (Morgan) Halley, Kelli (Derek) Kent, Jackie Floyd, and Rylynn Crabtree; and great grandchildren, Joshua Kent, Kaelyn Kent, Claire Kent, Sheldon Brueklander, Paisley Turner and Korbin Halley.

Don had several lifetime friends and appreciated the particular friendship in later years of his next-door neighbors Doug and Cathy Watt, who showed him many kindnesses.

Graveside services will be held 2:00 p.m. Sunday, April 19, 2026 at Queen City Cemetery in Queen City with Pastor Virgil Jones presiding.

The family suggests memorials be made to the Queen City Cemetery or to the Schuyler County Nursing Home and they may be left at or mailed to Travis-Noe Funeral Home, P.O. Box 306, Kirksville, MO 63501.