William Bill J. Crane

William J. Crane, 94, of Sarasota, FL passed peacefully into the arms of his Lord at Sarasota Memorial Hospital on Thursday, December 31, 2015 after a brief illness. Bill was the husband of Anna Marie (Mattingly) Crane. Born in Chicopee, MA to the late Emily Apolonia Cyran and William Joseph Crane, he graduated from Chicopee High School in 1938 and from Bay Path College in Springfield with a degree in accounting and finance in 1941. He also attended evening classes at American International College in Springfield, MA. Bill served four years with the Infantry, Medical Corps and Quartermaster Corps of the US Army during WWII in various operations, the last being in the Aleutian Islands. He received the Good Conduct Medal and Victory Medals, and Campaign Ribbons for his service in the Asiatic Pacific and American Theaters. He received an honorable discharge as a staff sergeant in 1946. His first job was mail boy at Fisk Rubber Company, which later became US Rubber and then Uniroyal, known for their tires and Keds sneakers. He worked as a traveling Auditor, Treasurer, Financial Vice-President and finally Chief Financial Officer and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors. He retired in 1983 after 45 years of service at the same company. He was a member of the Financial Executives Institute of New York for 40 years. Bill married his beloved wife, Anna Marie, of Logoottee, IN, in July 1947. Throughout 68 blessed years of marriage, they began and ended each day with a kiss. Ann and Bill have three children, Melinda Ann of Sarasota, William Sherwood and his children Emma Nelson and William Royce of Santa Fe, NM and Debra Joan Eisenmann and her husband Mark of Drury, MO and their daughter Marion of Springfield, MO. He is also survived by two sisters, Marion Killacky (husband George) and Shirley Warren, of Chicopee, MA. He is predeceased by his sister Theresa. Bill loved walking on the beaches of Cape Cod and Siesta Key, working in the yard and planning yearly family vacations to Cape Cod. He had a passion for photography, and actually met his wife at the USO in Indianapolis when he asked the hostess at the door (Ann) for directions to the darkroom. He and Ann played duplicate bridge with the same group of friends for thirty years. Bill was an avid golfer, a founding member of Bent Tree Country Club in Sarasota, where he served on the board of directors. He was also a member of the New Seabury Country Club on Cape Cod, where he and Ann summered from 1983 to 2008. Since his retirement, he and Ann enjoyed traveling around the world, visiting a total of 46 countries. He was a founding member of St. Patrick's Church in Sarasota, FL and a member of Christ the King Church in Mashpee, MA. A Memorial Mass will be held at St. Thomas More Church in Sarasota at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 6, 2016. Bill's ashes will be interred at the Sarasota National Cemetery at a future date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the USO, either online at uso.org or by mail to Department WS, PO Box 96860, Washington, DC 20090-6860.