The Rev. Dr. John Alexie “Lex” Crane

The Reverend Dr. John Alexie “Lex” Crane — long-time parish minister, social activist, and mentor to aspiring colleagues — whose dry and acerbic wit complemented a persona at once gentle and curmudgeonly, died on August 7, 2015, at the age of 93.

Lex was a voracious reader, a talented writer, and an impressive polymath. His children fondly recall his intelligence; his son, Jack, writes: “He developed a love of study, stayed abreast of thinking in literature, the arts, liberal theology, philosophy, and social sciences. This passion coupled with his oratorical skills, made Lex unusually able to communicate the big ideas to folk who didn’t have the leisure or luxury of regular study.” These wide-ranging interests led Lex and his wife Ginny to travel throughout the world, venturing to Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Especially memorable was a semester in China with Santa Barbara City College in 1989, where they witnessed the student protests at Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

The Rev. Mr. Crane became a minor celebrity in 1962 when the fear-mongering agenda of the John Birch Society (then recently founded) came to his attention, and he responded with a prophetic sermon against the organization’s ideology and activities. Shortly thereafter Santa Barbara’s local newspaper ran a special edition with a front page anti-Birch editorial and a reprint of Mr. Crane’s sermon text on the inside. The Associated Press picked up the story, and a CBS-TV crew with newsman Harry Reasoner showed up to film Lex redelivering his sermon from the Santa Barbara pulpit. Although pro-Birch vandals spray-painted a hammer and sickle on the church’s exterior and threw rotten vegetables at the parsonage, the episode eventually contributed to crippling the Birchers’ influence across the country. For his role, John Alexie Crane was awarded an honorary doctorate by Starr King School for the Ministry. His sermon text closed with a reflection of notable empathy:

“We ought to try not to hate them [local Birch activists], be disgusted with them, shout and snarl at them, for this will only drive them deeper into their relation with the group, for there they will find acceptance and confirmation. We ought to be as patient as we can, realizing that the people are doing what they feel they must do. They are as much to be pitied as censured. They are terribly frightened. Everywhere they look they see Communists. They don’t know whom to trust, to depend on. Don’t condemn them. Don’t threaten them. Let them talk about their views. Question them closely. Sometimes just hearing their own words spoken in the presence of someone who is calm and rational will help them to feel their absurdity. Be patient. Be firm. This too will pass, if we are alert and watchful.”

John Alexie Crane was born in Baltimore on January 14, 1922 to John A. and Minnie E. Crane. He was graduated from the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in 1939 and served in the U.S. Army from 1942 to 1945 in both the South Pacific and Europe, suffering severe wounds during the Battle of the Bulge. He returned to earn a B.A. in English in 1949, an M.A. in creative writing in 1950 from Johns Hopkins University, an M.Div. from Starr King School for the Ministry in 1951, and—midway through a long pastorate in Santa Barbara—a second M.A. (in social psychology) from the University of California in 1971, leading to his licensure as a California Marriage and Family Counselor.

Mr. Crane began his career in parish ministry in 1951 with a call to the First Unitarian Church in Vancouver, BC, where he was ordained the next year and served until 1955. He moved on to ministry at the (now UU) Community Church of Park Forest, Illinois (1955-58), the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, California (1958-77), and the Jefferson Unitarian Church of Golden, Colorado (1977-81). After two years as the UUA’s Director of Ministerial Education (1981-83), the Rev. Mr. Crane returned to the parish with a call to UU Church of Yakima, Washington, serving there until his retirement in 1987, upon which he was named Minister Emeritus. Unwilling to relax his commitment to UU parish service, he spent the next fifteen years of his “retirement” serving interim ministries in Southern California. After a final retirement in 2002, he was voted Minister Emeritus to the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara.

In addition to social service and activism outside congregational walls in communities where he served, the Rev. Mr. Crane lent his support to the wider UU movement. He served three terms on the Executive Board of the UUMA (1963-65, 1973-75, and 1991-92), editing the UUMA newsletter during his first term. His passion for ministerial education and personal mentoring was deepened by this experience. He went on to serve as a Trustee of Starr King School for the Ministry (1968-74) and on the faculty and staff of UU leadership schools (1984-87, 1993-95). In 2008 he received the annual Creative Sageing Award of the UU Retired Ministers and Partners Association.

In addition to a booklet “Developing an Extended Family Program” (1972) and a number of articles and scholarly papers, Lex Crane published several books, including Keeping in Touch: Self, Sex and Society (1975), Love, Sex and the Human Condition: Getting a Life (2006), A New Perspective on the Philosophy of UU Religion (2008), and To the Best of My Recollection…a memoir (2012).

Lex’s wife, Virginia (“Ginny”), survived him by only a few months. Other survivors include sons John (“Jack”) Crane III and Douglas L. Crane, step-daughter Claire Beery, step-sons Evan and Eric Blickenstaff, grandchildren Molly and Allie, Alex and Kirra, Willow, Mira and Zoë, John and Alex, and two great-grandchildren. Lex was preceded in death by a son, David L. Crane.

A memorial service was held on November 22, 2015, at the Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara. Contributions in Lex’s memory are encouraged to Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara, 1535 Santa Barbara St., Santa Barbara, California 93101 (http://www.ussb.org). Letters of condolence may be sent to Jack Crane, 239 1/2 Olive Ave., Long Beach, CA 9O8O2 or jabungusintl@gmail.com.