The Donnie Ray Crawford memorial service was held this afternoon in Tulsa, OK. The service was broadcast live on the world wide internet and was attended by what looked like several thousand people at the Rhema Bible Church in Broken Arrow. Donnie Ray was an inspiration to many, many people as evidence to the many tributes that were presented in the three hour service. He was a talented race driver, a wonderful friend to many and a born again Christian. What a wonderful tribute for this young man, gone too soon at age 24.
A very moving service indeed. The tribute by Harli White's dad was especially moving. It was a true celebration of his brief life. I didn't know Donnie Ray, but I had the occasion to sit with him for a while three years ago in the turn 3 bleachers at the Chili Bowl. I came away from that meeting impressed by the depth of his character, his demeanor and his attitude. I know he touched many lives. May he rest in peace.
Click "media" then video archives. Scoll down to special events. It's not up yet but you may want to try in the next few days. They may need time to get it ready for viewing. The church is a southern Baptist mega auditorium type that appeared to seat several thousand. It looked like the church was filled to capacity. The three hour memorial is quite a moving experience to say the least. His two mini sprints were on the church stage plus a host of tributes presented by members of the audience, e-mails that were read from people around the country, several video tributes plus an extended presentation of photos depicting various stages of his life and his relationship with friends, race fans and family. The Crawford family did an unbelievable job of assembling the media presentations. As a professional musician, I have played for hundreds of funerals and this by far was the most moving memorial event that I have ever witnessed. The outpouring of love from the Tulsa community was tremendous. He indeed was deeply loved and admired by the people of Oklahoma.
I received a message from Rhema Bible Church that it will take a while to put the memorial service on the server since it was three hours long. So it will be available but be patient while they work through the process.
