Who is Mr. Crich from Women in Love and what is their importance?

Mr. Crich is Gerald's father, an industrialist who runs the coal mines. His sympathies are all with the men, not with the industrial undertaking as much. He dies without acknowledging the horror of death, he just plays his role as father and industrialist out to the end, refusing to let the horror of death get a hold on him, or make him admit he had made any mistakes in his life.