Deacon William “Bill” Cranford, the longest-serving deacon in the state and a member of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock, died May 2. He was 85.
He was born April 15, 1940, in Bald Knob and moved to Little Rock as a teen. After graduating with a degree in chemistry, he worked for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and later as a chemistry and physics teacher in Jackson, Miss. He was ordained a deacon in 1978, serving for 19 years in Jackson. While the Diocese of Memphis ordained deacons in 1978, the first diaconate class wasn’t ordained in Little Rock until 1981.
Cranford, his wife Rose and family returned to Arkansas in 1996, and he was assigned to roles at Mount St. Mary Academy and Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock. He retired from his diaconate ministries in 2010.
He is survived by his wife of 60 years; two sons, Kent Cranford of Asheville, N.C., and Sam Cranford of Bordeaux, France; one daughter, Kathleen Runder of Little Rock; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.
The funeral Mass was held May 5 at the Cathedral of St. Andrew. Memorials can be made to Mount St. Mary Academy or the Cathedral of St. Andrew Restoration Fund.
