My Uncle Huey

There was no one like him:

My Uncle Huey

My Parrain (French word for Godfather)

My Pee-Zu





My Uncle Huey made me feel special

He knew how to fill my cup with kind words about:

How nice I looked,

How pretty I was,

How together I was,

What a good mother I was



My Uncle Huey taught me:

About life,

About people - He said if you set people straight at the start, then

you won’t have any more problems with them.

About work ethic – He said don’t ever marry a job

To love basketball – Go Georgetown

That presents had to be wrapped in good paper



My Uncle Huey knew how to live. At the family reunion he was so

happy about being king of the family, that he wore that

$5 crown all night long.



My Uncle Huey shared his experiences with me &

He gave me some of my first experiences:

Took me to a real ice cream parlor to get my first banana split

Took me to Fuddrucker’s to get a real hamburger

Took me to the truck parades every year on Mardi Gras



My Uncle Huey poured himself into me:

His stories affected me

His lessons/advice shaped me

His wisdom guided me



My Uncle Huey was always in my corner

When I succeeded, he was my cheerleader

When I failed, he always knew the right things to say.



My Uncle Huey was thoughtful. If you mentioned something in

passing, you shouldn’t be surprised to see it materialize at some

point in the future.



That’s why every time I came to New Orleans, I had see My Uncle

Huey I know he did the same thing for all of his nieces and nephews.

He made everybody feel special. He affected all of us which is why

we all came from far and near to be here today. So when I say

My Uncle Huey, I know he was some of

yours too. He was:

Your friend

Your brother

Your father

Your grandfather

Your “spiritual partner”

He made you feel special too. But for me, he’ll always be mine

because there was no one else like him:



My Uncle Huey

My Parrain

My Pee-Zu



Man are we ever gonna miss you?………….





Suzette C. Smith

Hey Family!!! Did You Know!!! Part 2

Did you know that The American Legion located at 4740 Martin Luther King Jr Pkwy in St. Gabriel, LA formally Sunshine, LA. is name Augusta-Criddle Post 583. It is name for two people, one is our cousins Ernest Criddle (Branch #5). Ernest Criddle was recipient of a Purple Heart Medal. He was a members of 3272nd Quartermaster Survey Company that was in Sicily & Rome, Italy where most of his platoon was list as Missing in Action on March 10, 1944. His Body was later found with the rest of his platoon and he is buried in our family Cemetery in Mt. Carmel Baptist Church Cemetery at 2106 Bayou Paul LN in St. Gabriel, LA.


Ernest Criddle was the son of Ollie Criddle (Branch #5) and Ellen Minkins Criddle pictured on the left. I also have a picture of his sister Ernestine Criddle Sterling pictured below. I got the pictures from the husband of Ernestine Criddle Sterling Granddaughter.

Hey Family!!! Have You Meet Our Cousin!!! Part 1

Hey family did you know our cousin Lauren Michelle Criddle is a Professional Soprano Opera Singer. She is a descendant of Calgo Criddle via Isaiah Criddle(Branch #10). Deon Criddle is her 1st cousin.

She has received her bachelor’s of music from the Julliard School of Music. She has work on a master’s at the Teatro Comunale Firenze in Florence, Italy, the only American admitted to the program.Below is a video of her singing.

The Katrina Crittle Connection : Who is Odessa Crittle Cleveland? Part 2 of 3

This is a biography of Odessa written by herself on Xlibris.com : " I am a retired National Board Certified teacher(30 years with Los Angeles Unified School District) with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Education and English and a Master Degree in Business Management and Education. I worked as a Mentor Teacher for the district for thirteen years, and I worked as a Consulting Teacher for the Peer Assistance and Review Program under the auspices of United Teachers of Los Angeles the last two years of my career. As a writer I have been published as a poet in several local and national magazines in the past, wrote objectives for various subject areas, wrote articles for school, the union and to the community paper. I have made several television and movie appearances."

I would like to say she really down plays her television and movie appearances. Odessa was in the original pilot show of the 1972 series of M.A.S.H. as Nurse Lieutenant Ginger Bayliss. Over the next 5 years she appears in 28 addition episodes of M.A.S.H. She also made single appearance in the following show: The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, Sanford and Son, Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II, The Greatest American Hero, Simon & Simon, and Trapper John, M.D. She also appeared in 1974 musical of Huckleberry Finn and a TV movie of Something for Joey and after 24 she just appeared in the 2010 movie Death and Cremation.

Hey Family!!! Did you know!!! Part 1

Did you know that in 1947 in Alexandria, LA there was a Crittle Beauty Salon located at 1619 9th St at the corner of Casson St. which is under the present day Pines Expressway Overpass. It was operated by Alma Wright Crittle the wife of Taylor Crittle. Taylor was the son of Edward Crittle Sr. and Eliza Rhodes line via Moses Crittle Sr.(Branch #1)

Update:Louisiana Crittle and Michigan Crittle Connection!!!

I have some good news as to a full Connection on Henry Crittle. He is the son of Moses Crittle and Rachel Brown (Branch #1). I found him list in his brother Charles Crittle 1954 obituary in The Times Picayune States Item that lived and died in New Orleans. I am still waiting to hear back from Cassandra Crittle.

The Katrina Crittle Connection : The Gris Gris of a Louisiana Crittle Part 1 of 3

I was doing searches on the internet for Louisiana Crittle -Josh (excluding hit for Josh Crittle. A professional Basketball from The Illinois Crittle Family) -Simon (excluding hit for Simon Crittle. An author of Mob Books.) -Adriana (excluding hit for Adriana Crittle. Our cousin that has a lot of hit from her college basketball playing). I got a hit on Google Book For a book name "Black Blues and Shiny Songs" a book of poems by Tommy Scott Young publish in 1977 by Red Clay Books. On page 7 of the book are these word for the book dedication:

"For my mother, Nancy Young
My Friend, Annie Close
And the gris gris of a Louisiana Crittle"

I was like while "Louisiana Crittle"!!! He has to be talking about one of our relatives. So I order a copy of the book. I look up "gris gris" I found out that is has to do with spells in Voodoo. Oh no that not good. But knowing our family history being from Central Louisiana, even though Voodoo was real big with slaves from New Orleans that was not the same from slaves from Central Louisiana. Gris gris is also use to describe women's attraction by men.

After getting my book in the mail I look up Tommy Young on the internet and found him on Facebook and sent him a friend request. After being approved as a friend I sent him a message asking him about the Louisiana Crittle and he told me that it was the last name of his ex girlfriend and her family was from Louisiana. I ask him what was her name and he told me that her name was Odessa Crittle Cleveland. He said that she was married at the time and famous and did not want to use her name. It was written as a secret code to her.


Odessa Crittle Cleveland is the aunt of our cousin Katina Crittle. She is the sister of Clarence Crittle Jr. and the daughter of Clarence Crittle Sr. This is the only multiple person Broken tree that we have in our family tree right now. I made contact with Clarence Crittle, Sr. but he was not willing to help us with any new information. I believe that Jacob Crittle Sr. may known how Clarence Crittle Sr. is related to us I am trying to make a real world connection with him or his son Jacob
Crittle Jr. In part 2 of the Katrina Crittle Connection:I will tell you who Odessa Crittle Cleveland is?