Woodrow Crane

Woodrow R. Crane (Woody), 93, a longtime resident of  Kansas City’s Valentine Neighborhood, died Tuesday, February 19, at Brighton Gardens, Prairie Village, Kan. Born in Topeka, Mr. Crane had been involved in radio most of his life and was a broadcast pioneer in the development of television. He became chief engineer of Chicago superstation WGN TV and Radio and was involved in the first Telstar satellite broadcast of baseball. While at WGN he accepted Emmy awards on behalf of the station for engineering and sports coverage. After a 35-year career in broadcasting he moved to Kansas City. He then became heavily involved in amateur radio and won several national awards for his work helping other radio operators across the nation. He also became a "county hunter" managing several times to speak to someone in each county in the U.S. via ham radio. Woody was one of the last amateur radio operators in the nation to proficiently use Morse code to communicate. In the 80s, Woody again became involved in broadcasting by helping start Kansas City’s community radio station KKFI 90.1 FM. He helped KKFI with his experience in engineering work and helped train volunteers in radio production. He is survived by his son Tom Crane and his grandsons Alex and Cameron Crane. A celebration of his life will take place at his son’s home in Kansas City Sunday, March 2, 2008, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, call (816) 561-6288.