Bruce Alan Crane

New Hampshire native Bruce Crane, a devoted husband and father, passed away peacefully on December 9 at his home in Park City. Bruce passed after a long battle with cancer, his loving wife of 38 years, Anita, and other family members at his side at their home in Park City, Utah.

The son of Emily Townsend and Henry D. Crane, Jr., he was born Nov. 18, 1947 in Cambridge, Mass. His parents, both doctors, moved the family to Plymouth, N.H. where Bruce grew up with a passion for skiing. His mother Emily played a key role in the sport as a longtime race secretary and administrator. He graduated cum laude from Holderness School in Plymouth, N.H. before earning his bachelor's degree from Williams College in Williamstown, Mass.

A noted national and international ski racing official, he spent much of his life serving his passion both professionally and personally in the sport of ski racing.

He served as an educator and a coach at Tilton School in New Hampshire after college, where he began his work as both a coach and competition official in alpine ski racing. He was certified as a national ski competition official by the then U.S. Ski Association in 1972. In 1976 he achieved his FIS Technical Delegate license - the highest level of competition officiating. Two years later he was recognized with the Burckett-Dodge Award for his service to officiation in New England. He also served for many years as head of the New Hampshire Alpine Racing Association.

Early in his career he worked as a race manager and coach at Waterville Valley, Great Gorge Resort, Pat's Peak and Squaw Valley.

Bruce went on to serve as national alpine competition director for the U.S. Ski Association for 16 years in both Colorado Springs and Park City where he played a key role in establishing and maintaining management protocols for the sport, including race scoring and athlete ranking systems.

He put his vast sport skills to work serving in a high level capacity at two Olympic Winter Games, including a role as the head referee for alpine skiing at the 1988 Calgary Games. During the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City he served as assistant manager for ski jumping and nordic combined.

He was world acclaimed for his work in race timing and scoring, athlete ranking systems and race course homologation. Much of the infrastructure he pioneered during that time is still in place today.

While maintaining his role in alpine ski racing, he also worked in various management roles in Park City for the Park City Mountain Resort.

After retiring from the ski racing industry Bruce joined Mountainlands Community Housing Trust and Destination VIP where he worked tirelessly. He was awarded the Robert W. "Bob" Wells award, in recognition of exemplary service to Mountainlands in support of affordable housing in the Park City community, 2016.

Beyond skiing and his professional work Bruce was an avid outdoors enthusiast. He spent much of his time in the wilderness hiking, fishing, and camping in the Rocky Mountains and across New England.

He is survived by his wife, Anita Crane, along with his son Jeremy of Boston, Mass., four stepchildren, Ellen Marie Ramsey of Pinedale, Wyo., Donald Dean McPherson of Roseville, Calif., Ronald Lee McPherson of Pontotoc, Miss., and Robert Donald McPherson of Roseville, Calif. and his two grandchildren, Sydney Crane and Marley Crane who live with Jeremy and his wife Leslie in Boston Ma. Additionally, he is survived by his five sisters Suzanne Gilman of Bridgewater, N.H., Charlotte Crane of Chicago, Ill., Cynthia Fisher of Bridgewater, N.H., Dr. Margaret Mumford of Plymouth, N.H., and Dr. Joan Barthold of Lyme, N.H., and many admiring nieces and nephews.

A memorial service is being planned for January 13th at 10:00 AM in Park City at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Park City, UT with a special remembrance at Park City Mountain Resort at 2:00 PM. A celebration of life will be held next spring in New Hampshire with family and friends. For those interested in making a donation on Bruce's behalf, charity information will be provided at the service.