{"id":4194,"date":"2017-12-05T12:33:37","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T18:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/?p=4194"},"modified":"2017-12-12T10:13:22","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T16:13:22","slug":"bruce-crandall-west-union-iowa-december-5-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/2017\/12\/bruce-crandall-west-union-iowa-december-5-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Crandall, West Union, Iowa, December 5, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Bruce J. Crandall, 83, entered heaven\u2019s gate on Tuesday, December 5, 2017.\u00a0 He passed peacefully surrounded by family.\u00a0 Bruce was born on October 4, 1934, at home in Fayette, Iowa.\u00a0 He was born to Grace (Swale) and Theodore Crandall.\u00a0 He was the middle child of seven children. Bruce graduated from West Union High School in 1953.\u00a0 He enjoyed playing football and basketball during high school.\u00a0 Following high school, he was employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, D.C. for a year.\u00a0 He began his college career at Upper Iowa University transferring to Iowa State Teachers College in 1956. Bruce served in the army and was stationed in Okinawa from 1958-1959.\u00a0 He was a proud graduate of the University of Iowa where he received a business degree (accounting) in 1961. In 1972, he earned a degree from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin.\u00a0 Bruce\u2019s banking career began at Merchants National Bank in Cedar Rapids in 1962.\u00a0 He joined First National Bank in West Union in 1964.\u00a0 He became President of FNB in West Union in 1985 and retired after 40 years at the bank in 2004.<\/p>\n

Bruce believed in hard work.\u00a0 During high school he mixed cement, set pins at the bowling alley, had a paper route and delivered milk.\u00a0 In college, he worked on the third shift as a drill press operator at John Deere in order to pay for school. He was living proof that those who are willing to work can be successful.<\/p>\n

On August 17, 1957, Bruce married his high school sweetheart and the love of his life, Marjorie Ann (Foote).\u00a0 They were married for 60 years. They had four children: Jill, John, Jane and Jack.\u00a0 Bruce\u2019s greatest love was his family.\u00a0 He was the perfect husband, father, grandpa, great-grandpa, brother, uncle and friend.\u00a0 He loved spending time with his family – especially the traditional trip to Potato Lake (and later Eagle Lake) each year.\u00a0 Bruce also enjoyed golf, spending winters in Orange Beach, Disney World, and watching Iowa Hawkeye football and basketball.<\/p>\n

Bruce also had a huge heart for his country and his community.\u00a0 He proudly flew the nation\u2019s flag in front of his house and often wore an Uncle Sam suit each July 4th in order to honor his country.\u00a0 Bruce served his community in many organizations, often taking leadership positions.\u00a0 He served as the City Treasurer for 14 years.\u00a0 He was the President of the West Union Country Club, member on the North Fayette School Board, a West Union Ambassador, a Lion, a Jaycee, a Mason, a Shriner, and a West Union Boy Scout leader.\u00a0 He was also a member of the West Union Industrial Development Corporation which was instrumental in bringing in new business and jobs to West Union.\u00a0 He was a member of the United Methodist Church and served as its treasurer for many years. In 1975 he organized a fund drive to build a new Methodist Church after the old church was destroyed by fire.\u00a0 Bruce received the Friend of Education Award for his work with Dollars for Scholars in 1988 and it was one of his most treasured honors.<\/p>\n

Bruce had great vision and he wanted West Union to be an attractive place for young families to raise their children.\u00a0 He established an annual Kids\u2019 Fishing Derby at Volga Lake in 1984. However, his proudest accomplishment was the West Union Recreation Center.\u00a0 Though many thought his idea for the park was insurmountable, he pressed forward. He negotiated to purchase the 40 acres that house the park in 1999. Today, the park is home to soccer fields, baseball fields, basketball courts, a walking trail, fishing lake, playgrounds and shelters where families can meet and enjoy one another.\u00a0 From his back deck or from his golf cart, Bruce loved to watch children and adults playing at the park. In 2000, Bruce was named as West Union\u2019s Citizen of the Year for his vision of West Union in the new millennium.<\/p>\n

Bruce\u2019s loving family includes his wife, Marge, children: Jill (Art) Cox of Columbia, Missouri, John (Sue) of Apple Valley, Minnesota, Jane (Tim) Zuck of Appleton, Wisconsin, and Jack (Amy) of De Pere, Wisconsin.\u00a0 He had twelve grandchildren:\u00a0 Jordan (Ashley) Cox, Taylor and Carter Cox, Shaelee Crandall, Kate, Bennett, and Wilson Zuck, Jessie, Jennie, Josie, Michael and Max Crandall.\u00a0 He had four great-grandchildren: Carson, Blake, Lucas and Wilson Cox.\u00a0 He is also survived by brothers, Larry (Dianne) and Dean (Norma) Crandall and sister, Carolyn Russell, sisters-in-law, Sue Crandall, Florence Crandall and Donna Crandall, as well as, numerous nieces and nephews.<\/p>\n

Preceding Bruce in death were his parents, Grace and Theo Crandall; parents-in-law, Maxine and S.M.(Bud) Foote; brothers, Eldon, Ron, and Dan Crandall; sister-in-law, Marilyn Darnall, and brothers-in-law, Max Darnall and Robert Russell.<\/p>\n

A celebration of Bruce\u2019s life will be at 11:00 am on Saturday, December 16, 2017 at the United Methodist Church in West Union, Iowa.<\/p>\n

Visitation will be Friday, December 15, from 5-7 pm at the United Methodist Church, West Union, Iowa and one hour before services at the church on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Burial will follow at West Union Cemetery, West Union, Iowa with Military Rites.<\/p>\n

In lieu of flowers, please make memorial gifts in Bruce\u2019s honor to the West Union Recreation Foundation or the United Methodist Church. Memorials may be sent in care of the family, 115 Union Ridge Drive, West Union, IA. 52175<\/p>\n

Burnham-Wood-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service, West Union, Iowa is helping the family with the arrangements.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bruce J. Crandall, 83, entered heaven\u2019s gate on Tuesday, December 5, 2017.\u00a0 He passed peacefully surrounded by family.\u00a0 Bruce was born on October 4, 1934, at home in Fayette, Iowa.\u00a0 He was born to Grace (Swale) and Theodore Crandall.\u00a0 He was the middle child of seven children. Bruce graduated from West Union High School in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[349],"class_list":["post-4194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituaries","tag-crandall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4194"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4194\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4272,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4194\/revisions\/4272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}