Obituary of Milton Douglas Crisp

Milton Douglas Crisp was born on April 22, 1947, in Welch, West Virginia to Milton Boyd Crisp and Mary Phyllis Scott Crisp. He lived happily in Welch until he was 15 years old, when he and his family moved to Roanoke, Virginia. He graduated from Cave Spring High School, where he was not only an excellent student, but also President of his Junior and Senior classes as well as President of the Monogram Club. He loved playing football for Coach Bill Edmunds, and found himself somewhat frequently in difficulty for his antics in the classroom. He graduated from Davidson College in 1969. His fondest memories of Davidson were those of the Kappa Sig house, where he met lifelong friends he enjoyed until his death. After a year of "career planning" at Cimmaron Apartments in Charlotte in 1969-1970, he joined First Union National Bank in 1970, where he had a diverse career that included the credit card division, Marketing, Director of Advertising, commercial lending, City Executive, Head of Consumer Real Estate Lending, and Consumer Credit Division Head. After 26 years there, he left to form a mortgage banking company, Decision One Mortgage, with some associates from First Union in April of 1996. He retired from Decision One in February, 2000, after what was the most fun job he ever had. He met his wife of 52 years, Barbara Earl, at First Union. At the time of their wedding, the bank had a nepotism policy, and since Barbara was much more marketable, she left the bank and Doug stayed. He spent his retirement years mostly in Blowing Rock, where Barbara and he had their honeymoon in 1971. At one time, he was actually a pretty fair golfer, but eventually lost interest in the game later in life. During his career, he was active in civic affairs, having served on the Boards of the Gaston County Chamber of Commerce, the Lumberton Area Chamber of Commerce, the Gaston and Mecklenburg United Ways, and also served as Chairman of the Board of Deacons and as a Ruling Elder in the Presbyterian Church. Doug was a past speaker at both the North Carolina and Mississippi Bankers Association, a former instructor at the School of Banking of the South, and a former lecturer at the Consumer Bankers School at The University of Virginia. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, his sister, Susan Crisp, his daughter, Jennifer Mathis and her husband James, his son Andy Crisp and his wife Katie, and his four delightful grandchildren, Grace, Owen, Anna Kate, and Mary Charlotte. He always felt his children were his greatest legacy. He dearly loved his daughter in law and his son in law, as well as his seven Scotties. Paraphrasing the Rolling Stones," Dougie liked women, wine, and song, and all the special pleasures of doing something wrong". He lived life to the fullest and dearly loved his family and friends. "The road goes on forever, and the party never ends". Austin and Barnes Funeral Home is serving the Crisp Family.