David Crystal II, husband (Judith Stulberg Crystal), father (Tom, Tosh and Ned), grandfather (Bear, Daisy, Luke and Harry) and friend, succumbed to cancer of the throat and the thin fog of lost memories on Sunday, November 30.
He was born in New York City on February 9, 1938 to Philip Edwin and Helen Bear Crystal.
His early years were spent happily in Westchester County, making friends who would last a lifetime. After his parents’ bitter divorce, he was sent to Peekskill Military Academy and then, happily, to the Trinity Pawling School. St. Lawrence University followed, and then the Boston University Law School. The happiest of David’s academic list were the two summers he spent at the University of Edinburgh. A lifelong friend and a custom-made kilt were among his favorite possessions.
David was, he said proudly, a litigator, representing the “pure and the innocent,” not an easy path in New York City in those years. He became an arbitrator for the New York Stock Exchange and was proud to become a member of FEMA.
The Crystals moved to Greenwich in 1970, raising their sons and Kirk, a labrador retriever in a comfortable Victorian house on Lake Avenue. Evening trips home were made on Metro North’s 6:15 with men who would become close friends. One of them introduced the family to New Hampshire and the Bald Peak Colony Club where they spent more than thirty years of family vacations and holidays. A cheerful, mediocre golfer, David enjoyed his games at the Peak and the Stanwich Club. An interest in trap and skeet shooting led to a membership at Preston Mountain.
Community involvement included a year as Co-President (with Judy) of the North Street School PTA. As a member of the Greenwich Skating Club Board, David spent many hours coaching hockey teams and was proudest of introducing the idea of a “House League.” The concept introduced team hockey to kids who weren’t interested in the time commitment or hadn’t the talent to play on the travel teams. David served on Parents Committees at most of the boys’ schools. In fact, he and Judy were Presidents of the committee at Rhodes, their youngest son’s college
There were other changes. Judy went to hockey games at Madison Square Garden and Giant football games (before the team crossed the river). David learned to enjoy (really enjoy) evenings on and off Broadway and even spent a couple of New Years Eves at Lincoln Center.
The final decades of their lives together they began to see the world…traveling to Europe, Asia and the Antipodes…falling in love with the people, the scenery and the golf in New Zealand. Sixty years, five months and three weeks.