Crane

Lester Bellmont Crane, age 67, a resident of Clinton, Missouri, died Saturday, October 20, 2007, at his home in Clinton following a cancer illness.

He was born April 15, 1940, in Independence, Missouri, the son of Jessie Crane and Vera Davis Crane. In his earlier years, Lester had worked at Bruce Marble and Granite Works. He later retired from Tobin Construction as a heavy equipment mechanic. He was a member of the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Independence, Missouri. His hobbies including hunting and fishing.

Survivors include three daughters, Wanda Molder and husband, Wayne, Pittsburg, Missouri, Leslie Gall, Independence, Missouri, and Stacey Molder of Tennessee; a brother, David Crane, of Colorado; four sisters, Audrey Profitt, Prescott, Kansas, E. Lou Womelsdorf, Iola, Kansas, Norma Bebee, of Kansas, and Charlotte Shipley, West Plains, Missouri. Also surviving are 12 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, C.W. Shaffer and a sister, Elsie Bawgus.

Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007 at the Cheney Witt Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow in the Woods Cemetery near Redfield, Kansas. The family will receive friends from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Cheney Witt Chapel. Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, 201 S. Main, P.O. Box 347, Fort Scott, Kan., 66701.