CHICAGO-Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr., 85, who has been chairman of the board of Crain Communications since 1974, has retired after 40 years with the company and will hold the title of chairman emeritus. Crain Communications is RCR’s parent company and publishes 26 other business and trade titles.
Rance Crain, company president, and Keith Crain, vice chairman, will retain their present positions.
Gertrude Crain first became involved in the business as assistant treasurer at the urging of her husband, G.D. Crain Jr., who founded the company in 1916. She also served as secretary and became chairman after the death of her husband in 1973.
Mrs. Crain has been active in numerous professional organizations, including the Committee of 200, an international organization of leading business women, and she also has been a leader in the world of publishing. Among her honors is the coveted Henry Johnson Fisher Award from the Magazine Publishers of America, which she received in 1992.
In a memo to the staff,
Keith and Rance Crain said that “we’ve enjoyed exciting times since Mom became chairman, and through it all, she’s kept us all pulling together to make the company the best it can be. She believes deeply everything we do should be with the highest standards, the greatest integrity.”
“Mom, in characteristic modesty, considers herself a keeper of the flame. She believes with all her heart and soul in what Dad set out to accomplish when he founded our company.”
