Over 100 participate in Alex Crum Memorial

Sat, Jul 5, 2008

Grand Haven's Todd and Kate Crum figured the best way to honor their daughter Alex's memory was to associate her name with something she loved to do.

Crum, a 15-year-old Grand Haven High School sophomore, passed away Dec. 15, 2007, after suffering a blood clot in her lung. Crum's condition, acute pulmonary thromboemolus, is the third-most common cause of death in the United States, with at least 650,000 cases occuring annually. It is the first- or second-most common cause of unexpected death in most age groups.

After her death, the Crums created a fund through the Grand Haven Community Fund in Alex's name that supports the Grand Haven Athletic Department.

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"For now, we focused on the high school (girls) golf program, as she played varsity golf," Kate Crum said. "She loved to play. And my husband also wanted to create some kind of memorial tournament for her in the worst way."

That vision became a reality on June 28, when 126 golfers participated in the inaugural Alex Crum Memorial Golf Tournament, held at West Ottawa Golf Course.

"It was a huge success," Kate said. "Plus, we had more than three dozen volunteers to help out throughout the day."

The family promoted the tournament through WGHN radio, and a community-based committee also hyped the event by visiting various businesses and spreading its importance by word-of-mouth.

Kate said the support from area businesses was tremendous.

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"We had sponsor signs on every hole," she said. "We had a total of 37, so every hole had two businesses and one had three. And we had 42 local businesses and families sponsor the event and we had numerous donate gifts for raffle prizes. It was so unbelieavable the amount of support from throughout the community."

The event raised over $7,000 for Alex's Memorial Fund.

Teams of four participated in tournament. After 18 holes of play, two teams were tied — one which consisted of Alex's cousin, Erik, and another which had her high school golf coaches, Roger Glass and Dave Stader. The two teams went to a playoff hole, where Erik Crum and teammates Shane LeRoux, Cody LeRoux, and Jordan Smith prevailed.

"I know (Roger and Dave) wanted to win it so bad, because the trophy that was awarded had a nice picture of Alex on the golf course on it," Kate said. "They weren't able to win it, but a member of the Crum family did."

The tournament was the first in what is to become an annual event. Next year's Crum Memorial will once again be at West Ottawa Golf Course on the fourth Saturday in June.