Walter Crenshaw Jr. was born on October 27, 1909, and was raised in Alabama. He attended the Tuskegee Institute in 1927, and one year later transferred to Alabama State University. In 1940, Crenshaw married Zelma Whatley, and the two eventually had five children.

In 1942, Crenshaw joined the U.S. Army Air Corps, and received administrative training before being stationed at the Tuskegee Army Air Field. Crenshaw served as the Administrative Assistant to the Provost Marshal, where he oversaw the background checks and induction of cadets for the 99th Pursuit Squadron and the 332nd Fighters Squadron and got to know each recruit on a personal basis.

After being honorably discharged in 1945, Crenshaw moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he worked for 22 years as the head shipping clerk for Railway Express Agency. Crenshaw and his family then spent time in Santa Monica, California and South Carolina before retiring to Redondo Beach, California in 2007.

In 2008, he was honored at the National Historic Site of the National Museum of the Tuskegee Airmen, in addition to the 2007 Congressional Gold Medal President George W. Bush bestowed to all Tuskegee Airmen. Crenshaw also held the distinction for many years of being the oldest living documented Tuskegee Airmen, until his passing in 2016 at the age of 106.