John Rush Crunkleton Jr., a retired bedding company executive who loved the sea and its sailing ships, died of multiple organ failure Tuesday at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 89.
Mr. Crunkleton was born in Baltimore and raised in Homeland and at a summer home on the Magothy River. He was a 1936 graduate of Polytechnic Institute.
He attended the Johns Hopkins University until enlisting in the naval reserve in 1940.
"He was sent to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba as a member of the naval cavalry. They rode horseback patrols in order to protect the base," said his wife of 29 years, the former Jean Fox.
Later during World War II, he served at the naval base in Norfolk, Va., and aboard an ice cutter in the North Atlantic.
After the war, he returned to Baltimore and went to work as a bond broker with Kidder Peabody. In the mid-1950s, he joined his father, who owned the Heller Bedding Corp. on West Pratt Street.
Mr. Crunkleton served as the company's president until its sale and his retirement in 1986.
When he was 12, Mr. Crunkleton used his first motor boat to explore the Magothy River and enjoyed fishing for rockfish and bluefish.
"I convinced him to buy a sailboat, and we spent weekends from the spring to the fall sailing all over the Chesapeake Bay," Mrs. Crunkleton said.
Mr. Crunkleton' s winter hobby was building detailed models of sailing ships - including models of the Pride of Baltimore - which he gave away to family members and friends.
It was the lore of the windjammers and sailing ships that caught Mr. Crunkleton's modeling fancy. "He only built one steamship, and at his death, he left one model half-completed," his wife said.
Mr. Crunkleton, who lived for many years in the Charlesbrook neighborhood of Baltimore County, also enjoyed Caribbean cruises.
He was former member of the Gibson Island Club and the Annapolis Yacht Club. He was also a member of the St. Andrews Society.
Mr. Crunkleton was a member of St. Andrews Christian Community, 5802 Roland Ave., where a memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. today.
Also surviving are a son, John R. Crunkleton III of Baltimore; a daughter, Florence C. Boller of Savage; three stepdaughters, Barbara W. Brewster of San Diego, Jan W. Hagner of Locust Valley, N.Y., and Lucy W. Zouck of Baltimore; 12 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. An earlier marriage to the former Betty Mason ended in divorce.
fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com