A beautiful energy to be around: RIP Craney

Staff at Hot Tomato on the Gold Coast have been left heartbroken by the loss of a much loved colleague in David ‘Craney’ Crane, who passed away at the weekend after a short battle with cancer.

In an emotional tribute, Breakfast host Emily Jade O’Keeffe told how Craney, in his role as Head of Technology, set up the Hot Tomato studio 22 years ago.

View this post on Instagram

 

“He built us this state-of-the-art studio that set a new standard across the country.”

“Because of that, everybody wanted to come and work here and to enjoy and experience what he had created.”

For more than two decades, he was part of the Hot Tomato family, keeping the station on air.

O’Keeffe says Craney had an ‘open door’ policy, whereby colleagues would stop by his office, seeking counsel for both their technical problems and their life problems.

Whether it be broken headphones or a forgotten password, O’Keeffe says “He always just fixed everything for us.”

And it was all done with a smile.

O’Keeffe says Craney was more than just a workmate. He was family. Always calm and caring. “He had a beautiful energy to be around.”

Craney had a vast intellectual knowledge of all things radio, and his passing is a great loss for the industry.

As his wife Marsha shared, Craney fought bravely without an ounce of anger towards the insidious disease he battled.

RIP Craney.