Lloyd B. Craine, 89
Lloyd Bernard Craine peacefully concluded his long and well-appreciated life on Feb. 19, 2011, in Coeur d' Alene. Sharing first names with his father, Lloyd was known as Bernie during his youth in St. Paul, Minn. He moved west with the Army during World War II and later became a highly respected and influential professor at Washington State University. He built a family cabin with his four children on Coeur d'Alene Lake, and it became his permanent home in retirement.
Lloyd was born on July 8, 1921, and enjoyed very close relationships with his parents and two sisters. He grew up near Macalester College (which one grandson now attends) and enjoyed many of the campus facilities. He loved to swim, and often hunted birds or fished with his father. He earned inclusion in the "Ripley's Believe it or Not" publication for catching a clam on a fishing rig when he was about 8 years old. He was very active in camping and outdoor activities with the Boy Scouts and spent many summers at camps as a Water Safety Instructor. These passions were passed on to all of his children, and he helped each of them pursue similar adventures while they were growing up.
He developed an interest in radio, sound and photography technologies through the Boy Scouts, and in high school he was responsible for setting sound equipment for public addresses, theater productions, and dances. He operated a HAM Radio station from his bedroom with his best friend, who also frequently invited Bernie to his family's lake cabin. These two activities combined to become the primary elements that shaped the rest of his personal and professional life.
He followed graduation from Central High School in St. Paul in 1939 with degree work in electrical engineering at the University of Minnesota. He joined the Army during the war, and was eventually assigned to continue his education at Oregon State University. He met Janet Hagglund, and they were married in Tillamook, Ore. during the late summer of 1945. He was released from the Army in October the same year and stayed at OSU to complete his degree programs as a civilian. He began faculty work at OSU, and then he and Janet moved to Moscow, to join the faculty at the University of Idaho in 1951. Along with other work, he is remembered for installing the first radio antenna on the large water tower overlooking the U of I, a landmark in that city to this day.
He accepted a position as professor and research engineer at Washington State University in 1955. The growing family remained in Moscow, and he made the "long" commute across the state line each workday. He continued investigating radio propagation and sources of interference. He started a lab for research in methods of electrical measurement, and courses on engineering ethics and the integration of engineering concepts and the social sciences. He was one of the first to look into the existence and consequence of grounded potentials on dairy farms.
During his career, Lloyd served in two extended positions that took him to Washington, D.C., while the family remained in Moscow. His background in solar physics earned selection to two director positions in the National Science Foundation in 1964. In 1974, he served as a Congressional Fellow on the House Science and Astronautics Committee.
He was elected Chair of the faculty senate in 1985. He retired from WSU in 1988, but continued teaching part time until his full retirement in 1990. He worked as a private consultant after his teaching and research career.
The family purchased property with an old single room cabin on Lake Coeur d' Alene in 1957, and began the work of developing the site and building a new cabin. The lot did not have road service, so everything came and went by boat. Lloyd and the four children spent weekends and summers completing the wide variety of projects involved in creating and maintaining his vision of life on the lake.
Lloyd was preceded in death by his parents, Lloyd Bascombe and Violet Olson Craine; and by his sister Ruth Craine Clifton. He is fondly remembered by his sister Esther Craine, of St. Paul; his daughter Kit Craine, of Moscow; and his three sons, Karl of Vashon Island, Wash.; Don of Pittsburgh, Pa. (grandsons Wilson, Evan, and Nate); Bill and his wife Deb of Vancouver, Wash. (grandson James, granddaughter Megan and her son Noah); and Dorothy Littlepage, his companion and caregiver.
WSU established a scholarship fund in his honor concurrent with his retirement. The Lloyd B. Craine Scholarship Fund serves undergraduates and graduate students pursuing degrees in computer or electrical engineering. Donations in his name will improve this important student benefit and maintain Lloyd's legacy of serving students. Contact Don Shearer at WSU at (509) 335-4733 ([email protected]).