February 12, 1945 – February 3, 2023

Margaret A. Crane, 77, of Slater, died Friday, Feb. 3, 2023, at Big Bend Retreat in Slater.

Funeral services will be Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, at 11 a.m. at Slater Christian Church, with the Rev. Jess Spurgin officiating. Burial will be in Missouri State Veterans Cemetery in Higginsville, with Tristian Griffith, Tylere Dowell, Trey Leonard, Cory Sanders, Buddy Griffith and Linn Crane serving as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Visitation will be Tuesday from 10 a.m. until time of the services at the church. Memorials are suggested to Big Bend Retreat in care of Weiker Funeral Home in Slater.

Born Feb. 12, 1945, in La Junta, Colo., she was the daughter of the late George Lee Deihl III and Ilma Tapp Deihl. On Feb. 2, 1964, in Slater, she married Billy L. “Bill” Crane, and he preceded her in death on April 28, 2018.

She is survived by a son, William Linn Crane and his wife, Karen, of Overland Park, Kan.; a daughter, Kimberly Ann Griffith and her husband, Buddy, of Slater; four grandchildren, Alexsis Nicole Dowell and her husband, Tylere, Tristian Hardin Griffith and his wife, Mary Anne, Haley Justine Crane, and Cory James Sanders and his wife, Tarryn; four great-grandchildren, Braylon Phoenix Dowell, Kamden Lowell Crane, Sawyer James Dowell and Nixon Charles Sanders; a granddaughter-in-law, Kelcy Crane; and a brother, George Lee Deihl Jr. of Edgewater, Fla. She was preceded in death by her stepfather, Silas Tapscott; a grandson, Braden Crane; five brothers, James E. Deihl, Guy E. Deihl, John E. Deihl, Harold L. Deihl and Richard D. Deihl; and a sister, Dorothy Steele.

Mrs. Crane was a longtime member of the Slater Christian Church, where she had taught Sunday School and was active in the C.W.F.  In earlier years, she had worked at Big Bend Retreat, The Little Store, and Slater IGA. She was a 1962 graduate of Slater High School.