Lt Col William Marion Crane

Lt Col William Marion Crane, US Air Force (retired) passed away 22 November 2024 Syracuse, UT at the age of 90. He was a veteran of the Cold War including Vietnam. 

William Marion Crane (Bill) was born 21 March 1934 to Clair Burdette and Marie Crane in Provo, UT at the Crane Maternity Hospital owned by his grandmother.

Bill attended elementary and high school in Circleville, UT where he participated in elementary and high school basketball.

Upon graduation from high school, he attended college in the ROTC program at Southern Utah State College (SUSC) and Brigham Young University (BYU) Provo, UT receiving a degree in accounting. From there he was commissioned a lieutenant in the US Air Force.

Bill’s pilot training was in Texas where he was instructed in numerous aircraft concentrating on aerial refueling (KC-47, KC-135). Bill’s Air Force assignments took him to many countries flying various aircraft.

Bill had a one-year tour in Southeast Asia/Vietnam flying the C-7A (Caribou aircraft) and two tours flying KC-135 in support of air refueling for the fighter groups.

His last assignment was eight years at Strategic Air Command Headquarters, Directorate of Tanker Operations, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.

After retiring he started his Barbershop quartet “Yesterdays Kids” performing around Omaha Nebraska and Iowa.

Bill met his wife, Georgia Montgomery, when he moved in across the hall from her apartment. They were married a year later at the Offutt AFB chapel by a Baptist Military Chaplain. In 1986 their marriage was solemnized in the Jordan River Utah Temple by Elder H. Burke Peterson.

Georgia was employed by Boeing Military Aircraft Marketing Division, Wichita KS.

While in Nebraska he and Georgia served a two-year mission at the Shenandoah, Iowa Branch and after relocating they served a two-year sealing mission at the Ogden Utah Temple.

Bill volunteered at the Hill AFB Museum for many years. One of the planes he flew in Vietnam sits outside the entrance with his name on the side.

Bill is survived by his wife, Georgia, his daughter Suzanne and son Steven (Meredith), southern CA, three granddaughters and three great granddaughters, sister Kathryn (Roger) Esplin and family, Flagstaff, AZ, sister-in-law Ivy Crane (Richard) and family, West Valley, UT.

Funeral Services will be held on Tuesday, December 3, 2024 at 10:00 am at the Russon Mortuary, 1585 W. 300 S. Syracuse, UT. Friends may visit family on Monday, December 2, 2024 from 6 to 8 pm at the Syracuse Russon Mortuary.  A viewing will not be held the morning of the service.

Interment at Utah Veterans Cemetery & Memorial Park 17111 South Camp Williams Road, Bluffdale, UT