![]() ![]() “He had an ease about dealing with any range of people,” Simpson said. Scott Simpson, press secretary of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, knew Crowe from working together on the LGBT Congressional Staff Association and said he admired the confidence that gave Crowe the ability to speak with anyone. You felt better about yourself you felt better about things in general when he was around.” He was a ball of life and people wanted to be around him because you just felt better. ![]() “It didn’t matter who you were, it didn’t matter what your political affiliation was,” said Mida, who’s gay. Jason Mida, the Victory Fund’s vice president of development, knew Crowe from his days as an intern at the organization in 2005 and said Crowe had a unique way of drawing others to him. friends and Chris, but he just had this way of becoming really close with people and everybody just absolutely adored him.” “I wasn’t really sure how people would react to some of my D.C. “For me, it was kind of two worlds coming together: my D.C. Identifying the experience as one of his fondest memories of Crowe, Paulsen said people he knew from his home state easily made friends with Crowe. Paulsen recalled a time in December 2009 when he and Crowe participated in a retreat for staffers in Johnson’s office in Texas. “He always would find it funny and could find something hysterical about it.”Ī Dallas native, Paulsen said Crowe helped him obtain a position as an intern, and later a staffer, in Johnson’s office, where the two worked together for a year-and-a-half. “He was always laughing, and it didn’t matter if you told the dumbest joke,” Paulsen said. Marcus Paulsen, who’s gay and an administrative coordinator for the nonprofit group Community Wealth Ventures, said Crowe had a unique way of making others feel at ease. Many friends who worked with him on Capitol Hill and in LGBT advocacy had similar recollections of Crowe’s outgoing personality, which they said enabled him to make fast friends. “He was a person who enjoyed life and always had a smile to share. “He was respected by his colleagues for his professionalism he was beloved by many for his generous spirit and good humor,” Johnson said. Johnson issued a statement expressing sorrow over the loss of her longtime staffer and sympathy for his family and loved ones. The death of the Kentucky native struck many Capitol Hill staffers and LGBT advocates with grief and prompted fond recollections of his life this week. “And that kind of, I felt like, summed up his personality.”Ĭrowe died last week at the Washington Hospital Center from a staph infection that damaged his heart after he contracted meningitis last summer.Ĭrowe, 29, who was gay, served as president of the LGBT Congressional Staff Association and as a staffer for Rep. “Somebody had collected some quotes he used to say in his office, and one of them was ‘I say ‘no’ to drugs, and that’s it,'” Murphy said. ![]() He was kind of the life of the party.”įor Murphy, who had known Crowe for more than five years since they interned together at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, the memory represents Crowe’s over-the-top personality and willingness to go to great lengths to entertain others. “He had brought some friends home and the first thing I saw was him standing on the island in our kitchen dancing to Katy Perry. “I didn’t know what was going on,” Murphy said. ![]()
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