James Harry Crann (1931)

CRANN, SHIPMAN, SMITH

Posted By: Linda Brittain
Date: 10/20/2006 at 16:17:58

The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, April 30, 1931
Page 1

Death of J. H. Crann

Local Resident Dies From Injuries Received in Auto Accident

Harry Crann, who was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Des Moines on Friday, February 6, died at the Methodist hospital Monday night, April 27, shortly after 9 o’clock. Mr. Crann was head of the commercial department of the Lincoln high school in Des Moines and had taken one of the pupils home the evening of the accident.

In starting the machine it ran over him, fatally injuring him. He has been at the Methodist hospital since then receiving treatment. An operation was performed on the injured limb Monday and he did not recover from the shock of the operation.

Dr. R. M. Shipman, of Des Moines, district superintendent of the Methodist church, and a cousin of Mr. Crann, will conduct the funeral services, which are being held this afternoon. He will be assisted by the Rev. A. P. Keast and Clay Slinker, director of the commercial work in Des Moines. Brief services are being held at the home at 3:30 for the relatives and immediate friends, prior to the service which will be held at the Methodist church at 4:15. A number of his fellow teachers and pupils from Des Moines are driving here this afternoon. The Masons will have charge of the services at the grave.

Mr. Crann, who was 46 years of age, is survived by his wife, and one brother and one sister. More details of his life will be given in the Mortuary column next week.
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The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Thursday, May 7, 1931
Page 5

MORTUARY

JAMES HARRY CRANN

James Harry Crann, started in his life with no advantages of wealth or position but he came of splendid stock. His father, James Crann, was a sturdy, self reliant Englishman, a very human sort of man. His mother was the daughter of an English couple who came to the United States soon after their marriage. They were devout people, the husband being a Methodist local preacher and they reared their three daughters under the influence of religion, the church, the family altar. Harry was born at Summit, N. J., 46 years ago. There he graduated from high school, united with the Methodist church, and at the age of 17 came to Iowa to enter Simpson college. He made a fine record in his studies and he showed himself worthy of confidence, being assigned special responsibilities in the commercial department. There too he met Lois Morrell Smith of Winterset. They graduated from the school together in 1906, and a year later were married. From the time of his graduation until the present, Harry has been teaching almost continuously in Illinois and Iowa, and for the past five years in the Des Moines schools.

There are but few near relatives who are left – his wife, a brother, a sister, a half-brother, a sister of his mother and their families, but rarely does one see such widespread sorrow over the death of an individual not in public life. Without the slightest trace of effusiveness or pretense, he showed that he possessed the key to men’s hearts. In his school work he had happy relations with his associates and won a remarkable devotion from the pupils. In spite of the shyness of adolescence they opened up their hearts to him, coming to him almost automatically for help and counsel, as to an older brother. In the Masonic circles, where special trust had been reposed in him, he had the affection of his brethren far beyond that accorded as a matter of course to the members of the order. The lodge gave him an opportunity to exhibit the spirit of friendship and brotherhood so characteristic of him. But Harry’s very friendly spirit was not limited to the school room nor the lodge. In all probability no one can tell just how he did it, but he made friends of all kinds of people. He entered into their lives easily and naturally. He shared their experiences and often helped them with their loads. It was while doing a kindly service that he met with his accident February 6. The one satisfaction of the long period in the hospital was that it gave people a chance to express their concern for him. During those 81 days a constant stream of visitors came to his room.

He was indeed a lover of men. There was in his soul no enmity. He loved to do a service more than to receive it and bore the burdens of others cheerfully. He was pure in mind and heart, a lover of home and books and music.

Gravesite
 

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