Remembering Ann

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Amy Mayhew

One of the best things about being in the newspaper business is that it has given me the opportunity to meet a lot of remarkable people in our community. While there are several shining examples I could give, none would be as remarkable as Ann Crane.

Ann, whom I loved and admired, passed away on Sunday, Dec. 11. She was 81.

Ann was a 60-year resident of the Holly community, and a resident of Holly Woodlands, where in addition to being a friend to many, served as an activist of sorts, encouraging fellow seniors to stay active, to be involved in the community and to never stop learning.

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Park Naturalist Ann Crane give...

As a former school teacher and the single mom to five, Ann had the natural ability to educate others. She used that gift to the end, serving as a Park Naturalist at Sorensen Park for nearly 15 years.

“Ann was always there for anything we needed to get done,” Park Director Toni Brinker said. Taking groups of scouts on hikes through the park, Brinker referenced Ann’s ability to show students “the big picture.”

“She lived her ideals, and through teaching, brought that to the kids,” she said. “She was really one amazing lady – to say we’ll miss her is a huge understatement.”

In addition to working at the park, Ann also served as a librarian at the Holly Township Public Library for nearly a decade.

“She kept us on our toes about the environment – recycling, about our diets,” Director Shirley Roos said. “Both our patrons and our staff are shocked and saddened,” Roos said. “There’s a big empty hole at the library.”

While my discussions with Ann initially began as part of my job, over the years we became friends, and I soon came to understand that when I was talking to Ann, I was talking to a person with a very old soul. Her depth of knowledge and wisdom coupled with her ability to love can’t be explained in any other way.

After being chosen to receive Holly’s Family of the Year Award in 2010, Ann wasn’t as keen on discussing all the positive things she did for the community, but rather chose to focus on her family.

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Ann Crane

“It was a tough job raising five kids alone – I had to get right in their faces and tell them that in order to make it work, we all had to pull together, and we did,” she said. “I just really count my blessings – I’m so fortunate to have a loving family, and I’m so proud of each of my kids.”

That day as we spoke at the library, I was struggling with the death of my own mother whom had just passed a month earlier. Again, Ann’s words made the difference.

Ann related it back to the struggles she had in coping with the death of her mother. She said she finally came to the realization that we, as mothers, all plant seeds of ourselves into each of our children.

“As my mother still lives on through me, so too does your mother, Amy,” she told me. “When it’s your time, you will still live on through your daughter –  it’s the cycle of life.”

Helen Keller once said, “What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes part of us.” I think that’s what Ann was saying, too, and I take comfort in knowing that through each of Ann’s five children, she will continue to live on.  

Visitation will be held from 2-9 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at Dryer Funeral Home, 101 First St., Holly.  Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15 at the funeral home. Memorial donations may be given to Sorensen Park Nature Center, or the charity of choice.