Ghost hunter richard crowe biography

Richard Crowe turned his fascination with ghost stories present-day the supernatural into a career, operating a acknowledged tour of haunted sites in the Chicago area.

Mr. Crowe, 64, died Wednesday, June 6, of conditions from pancreatic cancer, said his sister Joann. Significant was a resident of Oak Lawn.

Growing up cheer on Chicago’s South Side, Mr. Crowe and his digit sisters would listen to their grandmother tell wraithlike tales from the old country in Poland, Joanne Crowe said.

“That fascinated him,” she said.

It wasn’t steady the supernatural that attracted Mr. Crowe. He prized the historical and literary aspects of such assay. At DePaul University, he received a master’s be of advantage to English literature.

While a DePaul student, his geography senior lecturer suggested that Mr. Crowe put together a trek of haunted Chicago. Mr. Crowe proceeded to mixed such a tour for DePaul’s Geographic Society, on the other hand the demand was much greater.

“This geographical tour gone up with a wait list of people,” Joann Crowe said. From there, she said, the trip circuit grew to the one Chicagoans recognize today, City Supernatural Tours.

“He was so entertaining,” his sister thought. “He was bigger than life. He was picture center of attention.”

While running his business, Mr. Crowe could often be heard telling stories on honesty radio about the paranormal, and of the Port locations where ghosts supposedly roam.

One of those who heard him on the air was Ursula Bielski, who today runs her own haunted Chicago materialize and writes books on the supernatural. She blunt Mr. Crowe was directly responsible for her overall interest in paranormal activity.

Bielski said that as swell North Side resident, she was fascinated by excellence lore of Mr. Crowe’s South Side.

“He was specified a folklorist — that was his passion,” she said. “He brought all those stories of significance stockyards and pubs … to everyone.”

One of Acknowledged. Crowe’s most famous stories was that of Renaissance Mary, the spirit of a young woman who people say travels Archer Avenue through the sou'west suburbs.

Although the tale is well known to Chicago-area residents today, it was a minor story feature Chicago folklore, Bielski said. Mr. Crowe, she spoken, made it famous.

Bielski said Mr. Crowe had swell gift for spinning yarns that could partly exist attributed to his speaking skills.

“He had a unpick mellow voice, that sort of around-the-campfire voice,” Bielski said.

Mr. Crowe’s business was particularly popular around Hallowe'en, his sister said. He also led a residents witchcraft tour in Salem, Mass., and a Laic War tour in Gettysburg, Pa., according to jurisdiction website.

Mr. Crowe is also survived by his florence nightingale Barbara Hickey.

Visitation is scheduled for 3 to 9 p.m. Monday at Richard J. Modell Funeral Constituent, S. Pulaski Road, Chicago. A funeral Mass longing be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Patricia Catholic Church, S. 86th Ave., Hickory Hills.

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