OXFORD — Dr. John David Crews died Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012. He was 85.

Dr. Crews was a longtime professor of literature at the University of Mississippi and served as an alderman for the city of Oxford in the 1970s.

Dr. Crews was a native of Vicksburg, where he attended Christ Episcopal Church. He joined the Navy during World War II and graduated from the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn.

He worked as a journalist in Mississippi and Florida before receiving master’s and doctorate degrees in English literature from the University of Virginia. He was a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Oxford, where he served on the vestry.

He was preceded in death by his father, Cleveland Y. Crews; his mother, Evelyn Gotthelf Crews; and a brother, James Crews.

Dr. Crews is survived by his wife of 58 years, June Crews; four children, John David Crews Jr., William Lowrey Crews, Emily Fox and Lynn Crews; one sister, Anne Crews; and seven grandchildren, Mary Catherine Molpus, Lowrey Crews, Perrin Crews, Elaine Hatch, Brian Hatch, Battle Crews and Caroline Crews.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. Burial will follow at St. Peter’s Cemetery of Oxford. Visitation will be in the parish hall of the church from noon Saturday until the service. Waller Funeral Home has charge of arrangements.

Memorials may be made in Dr. Crews’ memory to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 113 S. 9th St., Oxford, MS 38655 or to PFLAG, 1828 L St., NW, Suite 660, Washington, DC 20036.

Online guestbook may be signed at www.wallerfuneralhome.com.