Donn Philip Crane (1915-2006)
From Biographical Wiki
| Donn Philip Crane II | |
|---|---|
| Born: | 9 Jan 1915 Chicago, Illinois |
| Died: | 14 Nov 2006 Arlington, Virginia |
| Father: | Donn Philip Crane |
| Mother: | Alice Florence Jones |
| Siblings: | Betty Crane Donn Philip Crane |
| Spouse: | (1) Mildred Mullins |
| Children: | Donn Philip Crane |
| Spouse: | (2) Kathleen Baxter |
| Children: | David Crane Lynne Crane Kathleen Crane Ellen Crane |
[edit] Obituary
Washington Post, Monday, November 20, 2006, Page B05:
- By Patricia Sullivan
- Washington Post Staff Writer
Donn Philip Crane, 91, a retired Postal Service manager and baritone soloist with the Washington National Cathedral Choir, died of cardiac and pulmonary arrest Nov. 14 at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. He had lived in Falls Church since 1952.
He sang for 20 years in the men's choir at the cathedral and traveled with it to England as part of an exchange program with Westminster Abbey's choir. He sang at President Dwight D. Eisenhower's funeral in 1969, before 4,000 people at the last Sunday service conducted by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., on March 31, 1968, and for Queen Elizabeth II and President Gerald Ford in the 1970s.
He also performed with the Washington National Opera, singing in "Ariadne Auf Naxos" at Lisner Auditorium in 1958.
Mr. Crane was born in Chicago. As a young soprano, he sang at Chicago's St. James Episcopal Church and attended choir camps every summer. He also had a flair for drama, which led him to Oberlin College, where he performed in the theater department.
After graduating from college, Mr. Crane performed with Holiday on Ice as an announcer and singer. He and his first wife, Mildred Mullins, then formed a duo, the Singing Cranes, and toured the United States and Central America. He sang and hosted radio programs in Seattle and Chicago until his wife's death in 1948.
Mr. Crane moved to the Washington area in 1949. After working as a service manager at an automobile dealership, he joined the Washington region of the U.S. Post Office, eventually moving to its national headquarters. He was the director of motor vehicles until the office became the U.S. Postal Service. He then served as fleet systems manager until retiring in 1980. Among his accomplishments was introducing electric vehicles into the fleet in the late 1970s.
"Overall, I'm very, very happy with them," he told The Washington Post in 1978. The costs of operating and maintaining them were lower than those for gasoline-powered vehicles, he said. Although some postal workers said the vehicles were underpowered, Mr. Crane said, "We buy them because we have to look for some way to get out from under the petroleum crunch."
Throughout his life, Mr. Crane loved to swim, in pools and in Lake Michigan, and he enticed his children across bodies of water with frozen Milky Way bars. He swam daily until losing his eyesight at age 80. He was also a talented painter, woodworker and handyman.
A son from his second marriage, David Crane, died in 1977.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Kathleen Baxter Crane of Falls Church; a son from his first marriage, Donn Crane of Raleigh, N.C.; four daughters from his second marriage, Lynne Crane of Arlington, Kathleen Crane of McLean, Ann Crane of Falls Church and Ellen Crane of Grafton, N.Y.; and nine grandchildren.
[edit] Sources
- Birth: Illinois, Cook County Birth Certificates, 1878-1922
- Name: Donn Philip Crane
- Birth Date: 09 Jan 1915
- Birthplace: Chicago
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
- Father's Name: Donn P Crane
- Father's Birthplace: Springfield, Missouri
- Father's Age: 36
- Mother's Name: Alice F Jones
- Mother's Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
- Mother's Age: 29
- Film Number: 1288335
- Digital Folder Number: 4298313
- Image Number: 01625
- Reference Number: 3348
- 1920 Federal Census, Chicago, Precinct 101 Ward 32, Cook, Illinois:
- Crane, Donn P
- , Donn P, Son, Male, White, 5, Single, IL
- Obituary: Washington Post:
- Sullivan, Patricia. Washington Post Staff Writer, Monday, November 20, 2006, Page B05
- Death: Social Security Death Index:
- Crane, Donn
- Birth Date: 9 Jan 1915
- Death Date: 14 Nov 2006
- Social Security Number: 337-03-7964
- State Where Number Was Issued: llinois
- Death Residence ZIP Code: 22046
- Locality: Falls Church, Falls Church (City), Virginia
