In Memoriam: Bo Crane
By Tracy Corral
It is with sadness that we report that one of our longest-standing contributors to the paper magazine, Bo Crane, lost his battle with ocular melanoma last August.
Bo's passion for storytelling and bicycling, along with his quirky sense of humor, came through in his stories. He wrote about riding out his front door along roads with funny names. He also wrote about rolling through local history, and even, wrote about mapping out the various doughnut shops to be found on his rides.
As a road rider, Bo documented what it was like to do a mountain bike ride through an abandoned train tunnel and down some very steep hills.
We miss his sense of humor and his stories.
Here's what his wife, Kristen Arnold Harrison, has kindly shared with us about Bo.
By Kristen Arnold Harrison
Bo Crane (Robert L. Crane, Jr) passed away on August 21, 2024 at home after a brave 6-year struggle with ocular melanoma. Bo lived his entire life in Palo Alto, graduating from Paly High (’68) and Stanford University (’72),where he majored in English and Creative Writing. His Paly classmates will no doubt remember the 800 Pound Outhouse senior prank.
He and his first wife, Susie Standlee Crane, have a daughter Ellen. Together with his second wife, Kristen Arnold Harrison, they survive him. Kristen and Susie both live in Palo Alto and Ellen lives with her partner Van in Nashville TN. Other surviving family members include his brothers John and Dave (Kathy), brother-in-law Drew Nosworthy and numerous nieces and nephews. His sister, Ann, passed away in 2016.
He joined the homebuilding company Ditz-Crane, founded by his father and the Ditz brothers George & Jack, in 1972 and remained in residential construction and management until his retirement in 2012. At that point he devoted himself to the history of Palo Alto and Menlo Park.
He served on the boards of Palo Alto Histsorical Association (PAHA), Palo Alto Stanford Heritage (PAST) and Menlo Park Historical, contributing to their newsletters, writing several books and leading walking tours of historic houses. Many people probably associate his name with the Daily Post’s Mystery Photo column, which he contributed to daily, with both guesses and photos.
Bo’s sports career was varied and long. At Paly he wrestled and played football. At Stanford he played Freshman football and later rugby and soccer. His father, “Crunch Crane” and his father-in-law Norm Standlee both played football at Stanford and took the undefeated 1940 team on to win the 1941 Rose Bowl as the WOW Boys. Bo became a passionate cyclist, completing 100,00 miles by January 1, 2023. He completed 13 Death Rides between 1992 and 2022. Along the way he coached AYSO soccer for 14 years as well as serving as the AYSO Commissioner for Palo Alto. He also backpacked in the Sierra with his dogs and friends for years.
In lieu of flowers please consider making a memorial contribution in Bo’s name to Dr. Prithvi Mruthyunjaya’s research into the genetics and treatment improvement for ocular melanoma at Stanford Medicine. Donation checks may be made payable to Stanford University with a memo note of ‘in memory of Bo Crane for Dr. P. Mruthyunjaya’s ocular melanoma research’. Mail checks to PO Box 20466, Stanford, CA 94309-0466. Also, consider donations to your local historical society. Bo thanks you.
