Elsie Lee Crane

1921 - 2020

Elsie Lee (Alexander) Crane Hilton Head Island, South Carolina- Elsie Lee Alexander Crane, 98, of Hilton Head, SC passed away peacefully at the Preston Health Center at The Cypress on April 17, 2020. All who knew her said she brightened up a room with her presence and her amazing blue eyes. Born in Pickens SC, October 1921, she was the wife of the late Andrew Jones Crane and the daughter of Clara Harris Alexander and Adger M. Alexander. Elsie and Andy were early residents of The Cypress at Hilton Head. She was a long-term member of the First Presbyterian Church of Hilton Head and volunteered at The Bargain Box for over 35 years. She attended the public schools of Pickens County, SC and upon graduation from Pickens High she enrolled in Furman University. She rode a bus each weekday between Pickens and Greenville, as a day student, and graduated with a degree in education. In 1942 she rode a train for three days to Tom Greene, Texas to marry Andy who was graduating from flight school in the United States Army Air Corps. After WWII They briefly lived in Chicago, then Greensboro, NC and ultimately in Lancaster and Fort Mill, SC where Andy was with Springs Mills. In 1982 they retired to Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island, SC. They both enjoyed travel and visited over 140 different countries around the world. As well as her parents, she was predeceased by sisters Marion Elouise Alexander Brown and Clara Alexander Norfleet. She and Andy had two children: Andrew M. Crane. Sr., wife Babs, Pawleys Island SC; and Emma Elizabeth (Betsy) Crane Griffith, husband John; Princeton, NJ and Hilton Head Island. Her grandchildren are Andrew M. Crane, Jr. wife Anita of Atlanta, GA; Lee Louise Crane Morris husband Rewis of Mt. Pleasant, SC; and John L. Griffith III, wife Rebecca and Alexander Huntington Griffith of Princeton, NJ. Her great grandchildren are Joseph Andrew Crane and Annie Ballard Crane of Atlanta, Robert Boone Morris and Marilyn Louise Morris of Mt. Pleasant, SC, and Isabel Adams Griffith of Princeton, NJ. Additionally, she is survived by a nephew Charles Norfleet, daughter Clara and niece Elouise Brown Faulkner and husband Steve and family. Elsie became the matriarch figure for Elouise and Charles after their parents matured and loved them as her own children. A private, family service will be held at the Columbarium at First Presbyterian Church of Hilton Head at a later date. Memorials should be directed to Marc Puntereri, The Cypress Employee Fund at The Cypress, 20 Ladyslipper Lane, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina 29926. www.islandfuneralhome.com