Juanita Ray Crane ’71

We lost our most valued classmate, Juanita, Oct. 15, 2021, in Baltimore.

Born Dec. 28, 1950, Juanita graduated from Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton High School and enrolled at City University of New York. She was one of the four Black women joining the Class of ’71 at Princeton in the fall of 1969. Juanita matriculated for one year before finishing her undergraduate degree at the City University of New York in 1971. At Princeton, Juanita was remembered for her gentle and kind spirit. She settled in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, married Ernest Crane, and was devoted to her three children, Candace, Makeda, and Malcolm, and later her four grandchildren.

Juanita ran an educational consulting service and acquired grant money to increase parent involvement in schools in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant and East New York sections. She co-founded Soulmates, a nationally recognized chess team that taught the game to elementary and middle school students, participated in tournaments, and enabled some to receive chess scholarships to college.

After the passing of her husband, Juanita moved from Brooklyn to Maryland, where her son and daughter were based. She was one of the “Trailblazing 12” Black coeds celebrated during 1973’s 50th reunion.

Juanita is survived by her three children, four grandchildren, and sister Ernestine Ray. The class extends heartfelt condolences to them all.