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Published on 06/26/1995 All articles from this issue

Boy killed in boat accident remembered for his enthusiasm, honesty

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Preston Crowder received a prize from his Little League team on which he played first base.

"He won our most improved player award," team manager Art Downs said. "He was growing and developing. He rallied the boys together, like the team cheerleader."

When the team was battling for second place, he scored the winning run on a passed ball, Downs said. "Preston jumped out of there so excited. It meant so much to him to contribute to the team."

Nine-year-old Preston Crowder of Los altos Hills died in a boating accident June 17 on Lake Del Valle near Livermore.

Preston lived in Los Altos Hills with his mother, Maria Crowder. He spent every other weekend in Livermore with his father, Douglas Crowder, and his brother Tyler, 11, who lived with their father.

"Preston loved to go camping and fishing with his dad," Maria Crowder said.

The Crowder's 18-foot motor boat broke down in the middle of the lake that Saturday afternoon. East Bay Regional Parks police reported that after the craft was towed to shore, a ski boat was summoned and the driver offered a battery to help restart the Crowder's vehicle.

When the ski boat operator took the battery back and headed out into the lake, he lost control of his craft and drove over the top of the Crowder's boat. The driver of the ski boat "reported that he had a throttle problem," Parks Police Sgt. Pete Small said.

Tyler was also in the boat. "He saw the ski boat coming and just ducked," his mother said.

Preston Crowder was pronounced dead at the scene. His father was taken to Eden Medical Center for head injuries. Tyler was not injured.

Preston had just finished fourth grade. He liked animals, his grandmother, Beverly Collins of Los Altos Hills, said. He had two pet rats, Oreo and Speedway, and two cats, Anna and Mozart. Anna, a kitten, was only 8 weeks old.

His favorite books were on bears and wolves, said Mary Ann Vorbau, Preston's fourth grade teacher at Southbay Christian School in Mountain View.

In an autobiography given as a class assignment May 23, he wrote about what he wanted to be when he grew up.

"I like to be a fireman because I like to reach my love for people."

At the end of the year he received a character award for honesty, Vorbau said.

Services were held for Preston last Friday.