He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Sophie Crane of Black Mountain, N.C.; children, Virginia and husband, Robert Gleser, of Modesto, Calif.; John and wife, Amy, of Prairieville, La.; Tish and husband, the Rev. David Rainey of Nashville, TN; Janet and husband, Dr. Randy Adams of Heng Chun, Taiwan; and Dr. James Crane and wife, Brenda of Rome, GA. There are 16 grandchildren.
A memorial service was held June 22 at the Black Mountain Church. More than 50 people with ties to Korean missionary work were among those gathered for the service.
“He brought help to so many,” said the Rev. Insik Kim, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s liaison to Korea, describing Crane as one of the “early pioneer missionaries.” “When I arrived at the memorial service, Sophie said to me, ‘Insik, I am glad you are here. We are here today to celebrate joyfully.’ And it was a celebration, indeed. It was thanksgiving for the life and ministry of Paul Crane … He wasn’t a preacher, like his father. He preached, instead, with his hands. He was one of the best surgeons.”
Born on the campus of The University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss., on May 2, 1919, Crane grew up in Japanese- occupied Korea, the son of southern Presbyterian missionaries the Rev. John C. Crane and Florence H. Crane. He attended Pyongyang Foreign School, graduated from Davidson College in 1941 and received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1944.
Paul and Sophie began working as medical missionaries in Korea in 1947.
In Korea, Crane established a teaching hospital for the training of nurses, surgical and medical personnel. Starting before the Korean War, he oversaw the construction of the Presbyterian Medical Center in Chonju, South Korea, serving as director until his departure in 1969.
Crane’s interests were not only medical. He was a founding board member of Han Nam University in Taejon, Korea, as well as a board member at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea. He also served on the board of the Medical Benevolence Foundation, which he helped found.
“He was a dear man,” said Marj Carpenter, a longtime church journalist and a former PC (USA) moderator. “In one hospital that I visited (with him) in South Korea, there was a long line of pictures of Korean doctors in the hall – over 120. He trained every one of them.”
*Much of this obituary is reprinted from the Ashville Citizen-Times, where it first appeared on June 20.
