H. Harlan Crank

H. Harlan Crank, M.D. H. Harlan Crank, a resident of Austin, Texas, died on June 19, 2005 at the age of 97. He was born April 14, 1908 in Cleburne, Texas, the son of Richard Henry and Missouri Ellen Crank. Harlan attended Cleburne High School where he received an excellent education, for which he was always grateful. Following his high school graduation, he worked for Texas Power and Light to help his older sister attend university, and to save money for his own college education. He entered the University of Texas at Austin in 1928, where he studied pre-medical science and worked part time jobs in his boarding house and at cafes. After 3 years of study, he was accepted to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston in 1931. He was forced to postpone his entrance to medical school, while he worked in Cleburne as a substitute teacher to save money for tuition. With a loan from a family friend, he entered medical school in 1932, and graduated in 1936. Harlan acquired a rotating internship with the University Hospitals in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma from 1936-1938. He was then awarded a residency in Psychiatry and Neurology with the Menninger Clinic and Sanitarium in Topeka, Kansas in 1938 and became an Associate Staff member in 1939. During his tenure at the Menninger Clinic, he met Alice Lou Davie, who was a social worker and therapist there. In 1942, Harlan was commissioned into the U. S. Naval Reserve to serve in World War Two, so he and Lou were married in June before he was assigned to duty. Harlan was stationed in various Naval Hospitals where he served as staff psychiatrist until receiving orders to the South Pacific. He practiced general medicine during the invasion of the island of Okinawa in April 1945, and was stationed there following the combat phase where he treated people with psychiatric disorders, tropical disease, leprosy and tuberculosis. After the war, Harlan and Lou returned to Topeka, Kansas, where he served as Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Karl Menninger School of Psychiatry, Senior Psychiatrist, Outpatient Division, Menninger Foundation, and Consultant in Psychiatry, Veterans Administration Hospital. In 1950, Harlan and Lou moved to Houston, Texas where they raised three children. Harlan began his private practice there, and was a pioneer in the practice of psychoanalytic psychiatry in Texas. He converted a residential estate into an office surrounded with beautiful, well tended gardens, which provided his patients a unique setting for therapy and healing. This was the beginning of his long and cherished love of gardening, horticulture and conservation. In addition to his private practice, Harlan was a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor University College of Medicine, and served as instructor, lecturer and consultant to numerous hospitals, universities, academies and related organizations. He was also a charter member and President of the Houston Psychiatric Society and the Houston-Galveston Psychoanalytic Society. In 1974 Harlan and Lou moved to Austin, Texas where he continued his private practice. Harlan also offered his services as a consultant with the Austin State Hospital and the Mental Health Division of the Student Health Center at the University of Texas. He was a Life Member of Texas Exes Alumni Association, and regularly attended UT football games until his late 80’s. He loved the summers that he and Lou spent at their cabin on the Gunnison River in Colorado, and enjoyed trout fishing and wilderness excursions. Harlan retired from his private practice in 1997, at the age of 89. During his long career, he was a member of numerous national, state and local psychiatric and psychoanalytic associations and societies. He has served as Oral Historian for the American Psychoanalytic Association and the American Academy of Psychoanalysis. He wrote and published over a dozen articles and was listed in Who’s Who of Texas in 1973-1974. All those who knew Harlan, either professionally or as a friend, know that one of his greatest qualities was that of a nurturer. If he was not nurturing the mind and soul of a person, he was nurturing the growth of a tree and the health of a landscape. He had a great reverence for Native American culture, and generously supported Native American education. Harlan was a naturalist and a humanist, who valued education, professionalism and balance. He had a strong spirit, a lively sense of humor, and an almost boundless enthusiasm for life. Harlan was preceded in death by his beloved wife Lou. He is survived by his daughter Cheryl McEwan and husband Ken of Mendon, Vermont, daughter Barbara Crank of Albany, Texas, and son Richard Crank and wife Elinor of Austin. He is also survived by his grandaughters Eryn Seavey and Cara McLaughlin, grandsons Travis Eppler, Troy Eppler and Bryan Eppler, and beloved cat and companion for thirteen years, Julie. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, June 30th, at 2:00 P.M at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, located at 4700 Grover Avenue. A reception and gathering of family and friends will follow. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the charity of your choice. The family would like to express their deepest gratitude to his caregiver of eleven years, Mercedes Montemayor, for her tireless effort, kindheartedness, and loyal friendship; and to all of the people that helped him continue to enjoy life in his later years. Memorials and guestbook online at wcfish.com