It is with great sorrow that friends and family announce the passing of Dr. William H. Crookston. He died peacefully in his home on July 25, 2020 at 84 years old. He is survived by his loving wife, Kathleen, their five grown children, and their ten grandchildren residing in Ventura, Manhattan Beach, and Westchester, California and Campobello, South Carolina. Bill Crookston was a longtime Santa Monica resident. He raised his family and lived in Santa Monica from 1964 until he moved to Ventura in 2014...50 YEARS!
Bill Crookston’s career combined over 60 years of selling, sales management, and entrepreneurial experience with academic and consulting assignments.
He owned and managed two manufacturing and marketing businesses and lectured in Entrepreneurship Studies, Sales Management, Personal Selling, Industrial Marketing, and Marketing Management in the California State University system and at the University of Southern California. He was a Professor Emeritus of Clinical Entrepreneurship in the Entrepreneur Program at the USC Marshall School of Business where he taught MBA and undergraduate students.
Dr. Crookston’s consulting practice centered on being a CEO Coach to owners/managers, but also included many sales management and sales training assignments with emergent companies. He was a sought-after speaker and trainer with a long list of speaking engagements that dealt with sales and marketing issues, business plan writing, motivations of employees, and governance of startup firms. He studied and served on various Not for Profit (NFP) endeavors.
As President of the Sales and Marketing Executives Association of Los Angeles, Crookston served on the Board of Directors of the International Sales and Marketing Executives Association. He was the former President of the Santa Monica Junior Chamber of Commerce and served for ten years on the Santa Monica Personnel Commission. Crookston was President and Board Member of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club of Santa Monica. He was a Certified Marketing Executive and a volunteer board member of several NFPs; as well as an Eagle Scout and a First Lieutenant in the Medical Service Corps, US Army Reserve.
Dr. Crookston received his BA in Economics from Stanford University (1957), an MBA in Marketing (1967) and an MS in Business Administration (1974) from USC, and a Ph.D. (1990) in Executive Management from Claremont Graduate School.
Crookston was active in church governance. He served as Junior Warden and vestry person at St. Alban’s in Westwood. He then served as head usher, lay reader, and Treasurer at St. Matthews, Pacific Palisades. When Crookston moved to Ventura in 2014, he became an active and involved member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where he served as a vestry member, was on the financial committee, house and grounds committee, and was Chairman of Outreach. His other Episcopal connections include Jubilee Consortium Board, Canterbury Westwood and USC, Program Group to Higher Education.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Ventura, California via their website at https://www.saintpaulsventura.org/give/
Submitted by Susan Crookston Goelz