MARIA CRANNA Obituary

CRANNA, Maria In Loving Memory of Mary "Maria" Cranna It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of our mother, on July 31, 2025. Mary "Maria" deFaye Cranna was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 18, 1923 and immigrated to the United States with her husband, N. Greig Cranna, after the war. She was predeceased by her husband, Greig Cranna; and her daughter, Jill Cranna Preotle. She is survived by her children, Judith Cranna (Harry Leichtman) of Cambridge, Greig Cranna (Pam Cranna) of Cambridge and Bruce Cranna (Jill Cranna) of Milton; and her son-in-law, John Preotle of Boston. Survived also by five grandchildren; Jane Preotle of Boston, Matt Preotle (Elly Preotle) of Winchester,Tim Preotle (Rachel Shnider) of Washington, D.C., Molly Cranna of Los Angeles, Caroline Cranna (Kevin Carpenter) of Boston, Julia Cranna of New York City. Also survived by Andy Leichtman of Medford and Jeff Leichtman (Kristin Leichtman) of Evergreen, Colorado; and her many great-grandchildren, Cadence, Violet, Lylah, Sadie, Nate, Lucy, Zoe, Charlie, Mimi, Milo and Wiley. She touched many lives in her 102 years with her relentless optimism, energy, and upbeat approach to life. She believed deeply in social causes and put her beliefs on the line when she participated in the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965. One of her great wishes was to vote in the last presidential election, which she did. As her children left home for college, she began working at the Gates School in Acton, as assistant to the Principal, and enjoyed a long tenure there. Once retired, she and Greig moved to Brewster on Cape Cod and enjoyed many years of tennis, hiking, travel, and volunteering at the Brewster Ladies Library. Mum was ahead of her time on many of today's issues, reading about nutrition, environmental issues and exercise long before they became mainstream. We will always remember her baking bread, making yogurt, butter tarts, Yorkshire puddings and Scottish shortbread (no Twinkies or store bought bread in this house!). Douglass Funeral Home, Lexington, MA

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