100 years and counting

Excellence and sacrifice

Nicknamed “Feny” by his fellow students, Crane truly lived the Auburn Creed while an undergraduate. He committed himself whole-heartedly into student organizations, serving as vice president of his class and as a member of social clubs, the football team and the Army ROTC where he was a lieutenant. 

“Feny is one of the most widely known, and popular members of our class,” reads his 1924 yearbook entry. “He is a combination of social lion and star athlete and few can surpass him in either of these. He has taken a keen interest in student activities, as you can judge from his honors, and the class of ’24 is proud to claim him.”

Crane attended what is now the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering along with his two brothers, Lawrence and Morris. Following graduation, he returned to his hometown of Birmingham and began a career in industry. 

“He married and had two young sons, including Ted Crane Jr., my father and Patrick’s and William’s grandfather,” said Anne Olmstead. “When World War II began, he felt a call to serve our country and joined the U.S. military.”

Crane was a major under Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s command in the Philippines. Crane and his troops were captured and placed in a prisoner of war (POW) camp where they were starved and mistreated. According to reports corroborated by curators at the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg, Texas, Crane escaped from the POW camp and helped the local Philippine military fight against the Japanese before being recaptured. 

“We have a letter dated Oct. 7, 1945, from Gen. MacArthur to my grandmother. It says that he was killed while being transferred on a POW ship in the Batan area of the Philippines,” Anne said. 

Before his death, Crane received the Silver Star. Later, he was memorialized with the Purple Heart and POW medals. When the family visited the National Museum of the Pacific War in the 1980s, they learned more about his final day in WWII.

“We know a lot about what happened that day because we met a survivor at the museum,” Anne said. “The veteran had been on the same ship as my grandfather. He told us the POWs were loaded on this ship from the camps, and the Japanese were transporting them to their mainland to put them into slave labor. This was very close to the end of the war. It’s very tragic in so many ways. The man we met was one of just two or three men that survived after the ship was attacked. And it was special that he knew my grandfather and could share his experience with us.” 

Second generation engineers

Crane’s sons — Ted Crane Jr. and Michael Crane — followed in their father’s footsteps and attended Alabama Polytechnic Institute. Ted earned his degree in chemical engineering in 1958. He continued his father’s legacy by serving in the Army ROTC, and he was a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. 

Following graduation, Ted married his wife, Barbara, and built a successful 45-year career with St. Regis Paper, Champion International and International Paper. He developed a deep love of Auburn and was dedicated to ensuring that students had the opportunity to complete their degrees. 

In 1988, Ted founded the Auburn University Pulp and Paper Foundation and served as its first president and then as an officer or board member for many years until his passing. The foundation has raised over $3 million and has awarded several hundred scholarships to students to the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn.

In addition, Ted was instrumental in creating a Pulp and Paper Engineering curriculum in the college, ensuring training that prepares students for careers.

“There are thousands of students who’ve been able to attend Auburn and receive scholarships from the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering because of the foundation,” said Barbara Crane, Ted’s wife. “Because of my husband’s work, there is a successful, sustained legacy of helping the students complete their degrees and start careers in the industry.”

For his service to Auburn, Ted received the Outstanding Alumni Award in 1989 from the Department of Chemical Engineering, and was elected to the Engineering Council in 1994. He received the Distinguished Engineering Award in 2003. 

Following Ted’s passing in 2014, The Auburn University Pulp and Paper Foundation and Barbara Crane established the Theodore P. Crane Jr. Memorial Leadership Endowed Scholarship in the Ginn College of Engineering. To-date, more than a dozen students have received this named scholarship. Barbara remains close with Auburn, attending engineering events, giving her time, resources and historical perspective on the Auburn Pulp and Paper Foundation.

“I’m so proud of Ted’s legacy. There is paper research being done at Auburn in the chemical engineering department in part due to my husband’s efforts,” Barbara said. “He was instrumental in helping students financially to finish their degrees and moving the industry forward through their training. He helped connect the engineering program to many industry partners that now employ Auburn graduates. It’s wonderful.”

Onward

Ted Jr. lived to see the third generation of Cranes go through Auburn when his son Ted Poole Crane III graduated from the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment in 1985. Of Ted Jr.’s five grandchildren, three have attended Auburn, including Ted III’s son Travis North Crane, who also graduated the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment in 2019. 

This May, William and Patrick Olmstead will graduate from the Harbert College of Business 100 years after their great-grandfather, Ted “Feny” Crane.