Harry Dow Cranston ’38

Harry Cranston died of a stroke Sept. 19, 1996, in Napa, Calif.

Harry prepared at Lawrenceville. His arrival in freshman year was delayed as he was lost on an expedition in the Yukon. A mainstay of our swimming team, he won the Eastern Intercollegiate diving championship in sophomore year. In senior year, when the swimming team faced one of the great Yale teams which had been beating us with unhappy regularity for years, Harry was the key to our victory. The meet was close, and after it ended, the outcome was in doubt while the results of the dive were still being tabulated. After a suspenseful wait it was announced that Harry had won the dive, and therefore the meet, both by a narrow margin.

Harry was our head cheerleader in senior year, belonged to Charter Club, and majored in geology. He then earned an MBA at Harvard Business School. During WWII, he served as an Army Air Corps flight instructor. Later he owned and operated the San Mateo-San Francisco Aviation Service until 1954, when a plane crash left him partly paralyzed. He arrived at our 20th reunion on wheels, but still smiling. After recuperating, he became a hospital and employee benefits administrator until he retired from UCÃ?Berkeley in 1981.

He is survived by his wife, Lois, his children, Susan and David, and nine grandchildren. We join them in celebrating the life of our friend and classmate.

The Class of 1938