Phillip Crabtree Dies By Suicide

Phillip Shane Crabtree, 18, of Texarkana, Texas died by suicide, on June 27, 2018. He was born January 12, 2000 in Texarkana, Texas.

Phillip Crabtree is survived by his father, Nick Crabtree, of Texarkana, TX, and mother and step-father, Kim Parsons and Todd Howell. His grandparents, Dottie and Earnest Crabtree, of Helenwood, TN, his grandfather, Tommy Strunk of Winfield, TN, an Aunt, Valerie Lamb of Muncie, IN, cousins, Cassidy and Brittney Lamb, of Muncie, IN, and many other members of the Parsons family.

Services are scheduled for Monday, July 2, 2018 at 2 PM at Texarkana Funeral Home – Texas Boulevard, with Rev. Charles Bell officiating.

The family will receive friends at 1 PM, prior to service, for visitation.

Phillip Crabtree was a Christian and worked as a Carpenter’s Helper.

On Facebook, Pamula Pierce posted "So sad for family friend, Nick Crabtree, who lost his 18 year old, only child, Phillip, to suicide last week, and whose funeral is today....Phillip took his life in front of his Dad."

The Crabtrees link to the Fouke Monster/Boggy Creek history.

Pamula Pierce's father is Charles Pierce (June 16, 1938 – March 5, 2010), the writer/director of The Legend of Boggy Creek (1973). Charles Pierce continued directing films into the 1980s, when he wrote the story for the Clint Eastwood film Sudden Impact. For that screenplay, he is said to have written the phrase, "Go ahead, make my day," which became one of the most famous movie quotes in history.

Pamula Piece and her mother were cast as actors in The Legend of Boggy Creek. Craig Woolheater shares that Pam "and her mother [are] in the scene where the kids saw the monster and the mom ran the kids back in the house."

For the Boggy Creek film, Pierce used members of the Crabtrees in front of and behind the camera.

The communities of Fouke, Arkansas and Texarkana, Texas, are interwoven, and there are lots of Crabtree relatives. It appears that Philip, Nick, and Philip's grandparents, Dottie and Earnest Crabtree, may have been related to Smokey Crabtree's side of the family. But members of Smokey's family do not feel there is any relationship. Perhaps there are two branches of the greater Crabtree family living in the Texarkana-Fouke area?

What we do know about Smokey's extended family can be learned via their obituaries.

Julius E. "Smokey" Crabtree, 88, died on January 16, 2016, in Fouke, Arkansas. Smokey had outlived one of his sons, Tommy, who was killed in a welding pipe explosion in 1987, and relative Karen Sue Crabtree, 50, who was killed in a car wreck in 2009. Also, Smokey’s wife Melva died June 11, 2005.

Smokey's official obituary recorded that "He was preceded in death by two sons, Tommy Crabtree and Lynn Crabtree, and a grandson, Jeremy Knight. Survivors include his wife, Fran Crabtree of Fouke, Arkansas, two sons and daughters-in-law, Travis and Mary Crabtree of Mt. Dora, Florida, and Jay and Toni Crabtree of Texarkana, Arkansas, one daughter and son-in-law, Debbie and John Knight of Sparkman, Arkansas, ten grandchildren, and a number of great-grandchildren."

Other Crabtree deaths followed. Brent Crabtree was the son of James Lynn Crabtree, who died in 2011. Lynn, as he was called, was the second eldest son of Smokey Crabtree, who died a few months after Smokey. Authorities in Miller County, Arkansas have confirmed they found the body of a man reported missing in July 2016. According to the Miller County Sheriff’s Department, the body of 39-year-old Brent Crabtree was found just after 5 p.m. Sunday, July 10, 2016, in a wooded area not far from Crabtree’s home.

James Lynn Crabtree, 60, of Fouke, Arkansas, died April 20, 2011, in a Little Rock, Arkansas. He was preceded in death by a brother, Tommy Crabtree and a nephew, Jeremy Knight. Survivors include two sons and daughters-in-law, Neal and Gena Crabtree and Brent and Courtney Crabtree of Fouke, Arkansas, four grandsons, Carson, Chance, Trenton, and Camden Crabtree of Fouke, Arkansas, his mother, June Crabtree of Fouke, Arkansas, his father, J. E. (Smokey) Crabtree of Fouke, Arkansas, one sister and brother-in-law, Debbie and John Knight of Sparkman, Arkansas, one brother and sister-in-law, Travis and Mary Crabtree of Mt. Dora, Florida, one sister-in-law, Paula Crabtree of Fouke, Arkansas, three nieces, Raynee Perry, Toni Pilgreen, and Starr Rawlinson, and two nephews, John Knight, III, and Jason Knight.

Karen Sue Crabtree, 50, of Fouke, Arkansas, died Sunday, January 18, 2009, in a Shreveport, Louisana, hospital of injuries from an automobile accident. Mrs. Crabtree was born Feb. 6, 1958, in Texarkana, Texas. She was a convenience store clerk (specifically, of course, at the Monster Mart).

Survivors include her husband, Harold Crabtree of Fouke; two sons, Jonathan Crabtree of Texarkana and Brandon Crabtree of Fouke; one sister and brother-in-law, Lisa and Doel Harvin of Fouke; her mother-in-law, Lillian Crabtree of Fouke; one special aunt, Doris Sanders of Fouke; and a number of other relatives.

H/T to Craig Woolheater for the sad news of Philip Crabtree's death.