Emmajane Crary, 80, a Founder of Newport Art Museum, Dies

Emmajane Crary, longtime art patron and a founder of the Newport Harbor Art Museum, died Saturday of cancer at Hoag Hospital. She was 80.

Crary was born in Shawnee, Okla., and moved to Newport Beach in 1947 with her husband, the late U.S. District Judge Elisha A. Crary IV.

She joined the county’s evolving art community and was one of 13 women who made up the Fine Arts Patrons, a group that founded Newport Harbor Art Museum in 1962. The museum will celebrate its 30th birthday this fall.

Jane Lawson of Newport Beach, also a founder of the museum, remembers Crary as a “delightful person and a dear friend.

“In the beginning we were all friends and we started (the museum), and we did it ourselves and Em was a very important part of it,” Lawson said.

Crary was also one of the founders in 1972 of the Orange County World Affairs Council. She served as president of the Assistance League of Newport Mesa in 1956 and director of the Blaisdell Institute from 1960 to 1970.

According to her family, she wrote two books: “Adventure in Humor” in 1959 and “The Superior Man in Politics” in 1972.

Crary is survived by two stepsons, Elisha A. Crary V and Oliver N. Crary, and their families.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. James Episcopal Church in Newport Beach, followed by a reception at the Four Seasons Hotel.

In lieu of flowers, Crary’s family asks that donations be sent to the Assistance League of Newport Mesa, 505 32th St., Newport Beach, Calif. 92663.