Kelly D. Crabtree

Kelly D. Crabtree, 81, of South Beloit, IL, passed away, Saturday, December 4, 2021 at Beloit Memorial Hospital. He was born December 3, 1940 in Alton, MO, the son of Vernon and Ruth (Lewis) Crabtree. Kelly married the love of his life, Lois Carr on September 8, 1957 in St. Louis, MO. He owned and operated at Crabtree Sand Prairie Auto for 45 years. Kelly was an extremely hardworking man. He enjoyed fishing and riding motorcycles. In his younger years, he loved racing at the Rockford Speedway. Most of all, he enjoyed spending time with his family and would always make time for family outings. Kelly was the patriarch of our family and will be missed.

Kelly is survived by his wife of 64 years, Lois Crabtree; children, Dean (Mary Cox) Crabtree, Gary Crabtree, Tammy (Ed) LaBay, and Cynthia (Joe) Higgins; grandchildren, Shawna (Justin) Havens, Savannah (Marcus) Causey, Samantha Wedding, Ronni Wyeth, Frank LaBay, Dan LaBay, Mike LaBay, Bethany Bates, Tracy (James) King, Michael Crabtree, Jeremy (Jennifer) Crabtree, Christopher (Alejandra) Crabtree, Ashlee (Josh Smith) Higgins, Damyn (Samantha) Higgins, Jesse Higgins and Dalton Higgins; great-grandchildren, Angel, Isabelle, Damion, Tiera, Abbey, Jazzmyne, Nevaeh, Erianna, Erin, Graceson, Nick, Preston, Keagan, Matthew, Kyree, Glenn, Logan, Madyson, Jacen, Julianna, Emma, Kayden, Kaiyah, Kolbee, Anastasia and Mathias; siblings; Viola Baker, Doyle Conner, Annalene Callender, Floyd Crabtree, Imogene Scism, Gary Glenn Crabtree, Dorothy Hollis, Delmar Crabtree, Julie Buckner, Carolyn McCall and Linda May; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Vernon Crabtree, Ruth Lewis Crabtree, and Lila Crabtree; son Jeffrey Crabtree; great-granddaughters, Serenity and Ashley; siblings, Ira Crabtree, Lola Shearer, Roy Don Crabtree, Letha Brooks, Kenneth Crabtree, Opal Crabtree, Harold Crabtree, Wilma Ketchem, Dale Crabtree and Goldie Skaggs.

A visitation will be held from 5-8 p.m., Friday, December 10, 2021 at Sunset Funeral Home, 8800 N. Alpine Rd, Machesney Park, IL 61115. A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, December 11, 2021 at the funeral home. Entombment in Sunset Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the family. The funeral service will be livestreamed on Facebook at 2:00 p.m., www.facebook.com/SunsetFuneralHomeIL.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.sunsetfhmemgardens.com for the Crabtree family.