* George Crowley; Invented Electric Blanket

George Crowley, 80, who invented the electric blanket. The blanket sprang from Crowley’s work as a Navy engineer assigned to General Electric Co. for World War II technical projects. He developed electrically heated flying suits that enabled pilots to fly comfortably at altitudes above antiaircraft fire, and decided the material could be used in blankets. GE patented his electric blanket and hired him after the war. Crowley’s work there and for Northern Electric Co. led to about 80 patents for his employers, and at the time of his death he had a patent pending for a device to turn off an overheating blanket. Born in Keansburg, N.J., Crowley began inventing things as a child, devising a system to warn him of parents approaching his third-floor room, to open the dining room door for his mother, and to close curtains when lights were switched on. Crowley studied engineering at the University of Notre Dame. He also invented devices for painting golf balls, bouncing tennis balls and chasing squirrels away from bird feeders. Often called as a witness in lawsuits involving bedroom fires (most often caused by smoking in bed), Crowley was a staunch believer in the safety of electric blankets and used them all his adult life. On Jan. 15 in Pinehurst, N.C., of pneumonia.