LAURIUM — On Jan. 25, at 1:12 a.m., Laurium resident David Crowley passed away after a heroic battle with oral cancer. He will be deeply missed by the communities of Houghton and Keweenaw counties.

It would be easier to find people in these communities who did not know David. It seems everyone knew him. Many will remember him for his involvement in Bridgefest. He was also heavily involved with Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly. He was also involved with the Calumet Theatre for more than 50 years, as well as the Knights of Columbus and the Elks.

But, he will also be remembered for something else: The absolute passion for theatre and drama he instilled in hundreds of middle school and high school students from Houghton-Portage Township Schools and Hancock Public Schools, all of whom he came to love as his own.

Mallory Wagner, David’s daughter, said his dedication to school aged students was incredible.

“He loved those kids so much that me and my brother would both laugh to each other, saying ‘he loves those kids more than he loves us,'” she said.

David’s involvement with the Houghton-Portage Township schools dates back to 2007. Between then and 2020, he directed some 22 high school plays and 25 middle school plays.

In 2020, he introduced many Hancock Schools students to live theater, both on stage and behind the scenes.

Hancock Superintendent Chris Salani was the high school principal when David established a drama club and initiated theatre productions in that school district.

“David started with us in the winter/spring of 2020,” Salani said. “He established the theatre production and drama club for Hancock.”

Salani said for the next year or so, David was very engaged with the students, but that came to a sudden stop with the COVID-19 outbreak.

During that time, students’ interest in the Drama Club waned, Salani said, and the number of participants decreased. It was around that time that Houghton Schools invited him back, said Salani, and a number of Hancock students who still had interest in drama participated in Houghton’s productions.

That was not lost on David, according to his daughter.

“I totally remember him saying that some kids really did leave school districts so they could be in his plays,” she said. “They did, they did.”

David demanded the most of the students that they could produce, Wager related.

She said David was meticulous about the school plays. Everything had to be perfect, everything had to be spot-on, she said.

“With every, single show, he was so proud of the kids,” she said. “He would always pick a play that would be a typical middle school or high school play, then he would push them. He wanted them to be at an adult level. They always met or exceeded his expectations. He was so proud of them that they could reach that level.”

In the fall of 2022, David directed Ladies, Sigh No More, a Thomas Hischak play that explores what happened to the women of Shakespeare’s plays after their tragic deaths. It was another production in which David expected the most from the student crew, then returned their devotion. In an interview, David said that while the play could be staged with either Elizabethan costumes or contemporary clothes, the ladies in the HHS Drama Club presentation would wear professional costumes appropriate to the character each is playing, rented from a theater company in Minneapolis.

“We rented seven costumes,” David had said at the time, “and with the shipping, the cost came to 500-some bucks. They’re about $60 or so apiece, on average.”

Wagner said that because of an extremely limited budget, the cost of those costumes was borne by David.

“He was so focused on giving those kids something, because that was him when he was in school,” she said.

Wager said that when her father was a student at Calumet High School, he was frequently made fun of because he was “different.” He loved theater, he was involved in it, she said, and he liked to dress well and fashionably. Standing out was taboo in his generation, Wagner said.

“So, he always wanted kids to be able to express themselves, and be okay with expressing themselves, and feel safe with expressing themselves,” she said.

Those who regularly attended the plays David directed may have noticed a quiet, underlying theme of death, the supernatural and exploring what may happen after death. Wagner explained that part of that may be due to the fact that David’s father was the owner of the Crowley Funeral Home, and David grew up in that environment.

At the same time, she said, it was David’s parents who instilled his passion for his community.

“What really sparked his passion was his mom and dad,” she said. “They were very big in the community. His dad owned the funeral home. He would tell me stories about his dad and what he would do. People passed, people in the community that he knew could not afford funerals. He would do them for free. He would donate. His mom was very big in Little Brothers.”

Wagner related that on many occasions, when David knew of neighbors who did not have money for groceries, especially during holidays, he would purchase bags of food for them, without them knowing who actually purchased them.

“He just exploded with volunteering and being in the community.,” Wagner said.

A compassionate man of depth and complexities, he was also a poet and writer, publishing two collections of poetry.

He authored three children’s books, in addition to novels “The Secret of St. Christopher’s Girls School” and “The Christmas Prayer.”

On the weekend of Nov.8-10, 2024, David directed the Houghton High School Drama Club’s play Murder Runs in the Family.

The majority of those who attended the plays were not aware that Murder Runs in the Family would be the last David Crowley directed high school play the Copper Country would ever see.

It will take several months for the community to fully realize the extent to which David Crowley contributed to the area, and its people, he loved so much. In perfect characterization of the term, David was an individual who possessed a wide range of skills, adaptability, and the ability to thrive in different situations or roles. He was a Man for All Seasons.