Crawford Harmon

Crawford Elbert Harmon, Jr. died on August 26, 2022, at Tucker Hospice House in Kannapolis, NC after a short, but valiant fight against cancer.

Elbert was born on August 12, 1947, in Raleigh, North Carolina to Frances Maynard Harmon. While his biological father was not in the picture long, Fred Robert Andrews came into their lives and cared for Elbert as his own.

Elbert spent a lot of time working on the family farm and learning from Fred and others including his beloved uncle, Robert Maynard, who was more like a brother than an uncle. Elbert learned a variety of skills throughout his childhood including mechanical skills, woodworking, and carpentry.

At the age of 19, he married his high school sweetheart, Kay Hodge Harmon, in 1966. They were married for 41 years and had 3 children. Elbert spent many years fixing up mini-bikes, tree houses, and pole swings for his kids to use for fun. As they became older, car restoration became the hobby of choice, helping Wayne restore a 1955 Chevy 2-door 210 wagon and Cindy a 1966 Mustang.

Elbert was a mechanic for several companies – Coca Cola Bottling Company, E.F. Craven, Co. and Catepillar and in 1988, started his own business – Harmon's Equipment Repair. Elbert was well known in North Carolina for being able to fix just about anything – lawnmowers, cars, trucks, forklifts, bulldozers, cranes. Anything with moving parts that wasn’t working, Elbert was your guy. His reputation as an expert mechanic allowed him to work for some major corporations including Norfolk Southern Railway, Martin Marietta and, at one point, even doing work for J.A. Jones Construction in Bermuda. Elbert was a master at the lathe and could make about any part he couldn’t find.

Elbert also loved building/carpentry/woodworking. He built a house on Flowes Store Rd in Concord, doing a large majority of the work himself. He had recently bought property in Albemarle, NC with the intent of building another house. He was doing all the clearing work himself, often found on the property at 5am so he could “get it done before it got hot”.

Elbert is survived by his 3 children - Wayne Harmon (Veronica), Cindy Cornett (Kenny), Donna Oxford (Dom), 4 grandchildren – Kayla Cornett, Taylor Harmon, Ethan Cornett, Carson Oxford, his significant other – Trish Vanhoy and her family, and his dog, Slippers. Many cherished extended family members and friends will miss him dearly as well.

The family would like to thank Candice and Eric Solomon for being Elbert’s caregivers and friends, the Tucker Hospice House and Hospice of Cabarrus County for caring for him during his final weeks, and Levine Cancer Center – Lincolnton for doing what they could to give his friends and family more time with him.

The family will receive friends on Sunday, September 11, 2022, from 3-6pm at Wilkinson Funeral Home, 100 Branchview Dr., Concord, NC.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of Cabarrus County, 5003 Hospice Lane, Kannapolis, NC 28081.