Ruth Crane

1927 - 2024

Crane, Ruth Sadie

Ruth Sadie (Decker) Crane was born into a loving family on May 6, 1927. The sixth of seven children, she was raised, educated and married in East Stroudsburg, Pa., close by the tracks and train station where her father worked as a conductor for the Lackawanna Railroad. While her mother worked hard through the depression as a homemaker raising seven children, she taught her kids kindness and compassion with all of the volunteer work she did for the Church, World War One veterans, and various other groups in town during the tough times of the 1930's. Her mother even fed "Hobo's" at the back door regularly because she could not turn anyone away if they were hungry. Ruth grew up seeing, helping and learning along side her mother, and she carried those values with her every day. She met the love of her life on a cold day in her early teens when two boys across the street decided to throw snowballs at her and her younger sister who were out shoveling the sidewalk in front of their house. The boys didn't know the girls played for the softball team in school (and had three older brothers) so they were surprised when the girls dropped the shovels and started throwing back, giving better than they were getting. The boys got tired of being pelted with snowballs and decided that it was a good idea to just cross the street and wash the girls' faces in snow, which they did and then ran off. Later that night, at the dinner table, the new kid in town (a hooligan by the name of Wally Crane) announced to his parents that he had met the girl he was going to marry. A few years later in 1944, Ruth saw Wally go off to war along with her brothers, and like so many others, prayed nervously while he was half a world away on a ship in the south Pacific. Thankfully, Wally returned home safely, and picking up where they left off, they were married in October of 1949 and set up housekeeping in Paterson NJ, where Wally found work after the war. There they started their own family (Steven, Linda and Douglas) and lived there for 14 years until moving out of Paterson in 1962 to Randolph, NJ, raising their kids with the great values they themselves grew up with. In 2006 they moved to Springboro, OH because of Wally's health, and although Wally passed in the same year, Ruth has called Springboro and Clearcreek Twp. home until her passing. Ruth is survived by her children; Steven Crane, Linda Swartzel, Douglas Crane and his wife Pat Crane: 6 grandchildren; Jeffrey, Andrew, Matthew, Sean, Erin and Samantha: 4 great grandchildren; Lucy, Audrey, Ciaran and Rowan: sister-in-law Mollie Decker and cousin-in-law Edna Crane, as well as numerous nieces and nephews and their families. A Celebration of Life is planned for 11:00 am on April 27 at the First United Methodist Church of Springboro, 60 E. North St. In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Mission First Endowment fund at the First United Methodist Church of Springboro, 60 E. North St., Springboro, OH, 45066 or the Franklin Area Community Services (Food Pantry), 345 S Main St, Franklin, OH 45005.