Austen Crehore - Later Life

Later Life

On August 26, 1919, after his return from France, Austen Crehore entered the New York to Toronto First International Air Race, promoted by one of New York City's major daily newspapers. He departed Mineola, New York (on Long Island) in an Ansaldo S.V.A. (Ansaldo A.300) and was by far the leader of the first leg of the air race. As he approached the first fuel stop in upstate New York the hordes of onlookers and admirers, not understanding about airplanes, ran out on the airfield as he approached the landing strip to greet the leader. Austen had no choice but to pull up out of his landing procedure to save the lives of the onlookers, and crashed into a group of trees. The accident nearly killed him and very few of the people present understood that they caused the crash until they read the papers the next day. Crehore spent more than three months recovering from numerous broken bones.

After he was released from the hospital in Albany, he announced that he would retire from flying and concentrate on building the Crehore and Richardson Agency, an insurance and brokerage firm in New York. On January 14, 1924 he married Katherine Dennis in New York City. They had three children, Katherine June Crehore (now June Crehore Gulick), Austen Crehore Jr (died within a few days of birth) and Thomas Oliver Crehore (a playwright).

Crehore continued to develop his company successfully through the Great Depression without difficulty. Years later he sold the Crehore and Richardson Agency to Eifert, French and Company of New York, where he served as President until his retirement in 1960. After that he served as president of the Lafayette Flying Corps Association, and was the director of the American Society of French Legion of Honor.

Crehore died surrounded by his family in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, August 20, 1962, at age 69. He is buried with his wife Katherine at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey. His uniform is now part of the permanent collection at the Westfield Historical Society in New Jersey, and his numerous metals and awards are kept at the International Aviation Museum in Colorado.

The Crehore family was a family of very early aviators. Three of Austen Ballard Crehore’s brothers were highly accomplished pilots, and two of his brothers served the US Army Air Service in World War I at the same time as he was serving in the French Air Corps. All the Crehore brothers survived the war.