Merle Richard Craner: exponent and proponent of change, 29 January 1970

Merle Richard Craner was born on 12 March 1930 in Jarbidge, Nevada. He attended elementary school in Benewah, Idaho and complete junior and senior high school in St. Maries, graduating in 1948. Craner enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1948 and was deployed to Japan. He was honorably discharged and returned to St. Maries. Craner attended the University of Idaho where he earned a degree in education. In 1955, he married Barbara Case. Craner taught throughout north Idaho, eastern Washington, Maryland, and Singapore. He settled in Cheney, Washington in 1978 and retired from the public school system in 1978. His wife, Barbara, died in 1990. Craner would do handywork around Cheney and met Joanne Charlton. They married in 1991. Joanne died in 2022. Merle died on 24 October 2023.