Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 10, 1995 TAG: 9510100081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICHARD FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Kenneth Crouch never went to college, but he knew more about Bedford County history than any professor.
When he died Sunday at age 70 of liver cancer at Bedford County Memorial Hospital, the amateur historian and one-time candidate for sheriff took with him a library that took a lifetime to amass.
It was all locked in his brain: Family histories, political struggles, community stories and folk tales.
``As far as I'm concerned, he was the most knowledgable historian in Bedford,'' said author Peter Viemeister. ``I've written books about the history of Bedford, but he knew more about Bedford than I did. He just never wrote books.
``I was in awe of his knowledge.''
Crouch was a board member of the Bedford City-County Museum and frequently volunteered there. He often could be found in the museum's library, helping visitors research their family trees.
``Whenever I'm asked a question that I don't know the answer to, I'll think of Kenneth,'' said Ellen Wandrei, museum director. ``Because that's usually who I asked.''
A Bedford County native, Crouch never married. He graduated from Huddleston High School in 1940 and later took a job as a reporter with the now-defunct weekly, The Bedford Democrat.
He had been a dispatcher for the Bedford Police Department for seven years when, in 1975, he ran for sheriff and lost against incumbent Carl Wells.
Running as an independent, Crouch got 1,008 votes. Wells got 4,955.
He then began delivering The Roanoke Times, eventually working his way up to Bedford County circulation manager, a job he retired from in 1989.
In between, he volunteered for many civic and church groups. He also wrote occasional history articles for The Bedford Bulletin.
He was known for his generosity. Even when he didn't have money for medicine, Wandrei recalled, he would donate his speaking fees to the museum.
A slight man with an elfish grin and receding silver hair, he peered at the world and his research through thick, brown-rimmed glasses. Opinionated, outspoken, yet humble, he had a wide circle of friends.
He corresponded regularly with the deposed king of Bulgaria. His voluminous collection of autographs is legendary.
``He was real interested in whatever was going on in the world and whoever were the news makers,'' Wandrei said. ``During the Cold War, he was sending out letters to all the Russian leaders to get their autographs and pictures, and periodically, he'd be investigated.''
In the early 1980s, Viemeister recalled, Crouch sent a book about the Iranian hostage crisis to Iran's former president.
``He wrote back a letter to Kenneth saying, `I do not give autographs,''' Viemeister said. ``And then he signed the letter.''
The museum has displayed some of Crouch's collection, including sheet music signed by Irving Berlin and a book about the atomic bomb signed by the crew members of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima.
In recent years, Crouch's boundless energy faded. A stroke blinded him in one eye, and his battle with liver cancer left him unable to attend county Board of Supervisors meetings, where he had always been a fixture.
``There's a lot of history went to sleep last night,'' Wells said Monday. ``He knew more about Bedford County families and places than most anybody I can think of.''
``He's irreplaceable,'' Viemeister said. ``We can always get another senator, or another delegate, or another sheriff. But you can't get another Kenneth Crouch.''
by CNB