Two days in 2017 will forever be etched in Steve Crane’s memory. That’s when he met former US President Jimmy Carter.
“This was the highlight of my career,” Crane said.
Crane is senior vice president of program delivery at Habitat for Humanity Manitoba – an organization with which Carter has been heavily involved. The former president, who died Sunday, made the trip to Winnipeg in 1993 and 2017.
“Every year, there is a work project for Carter that takes place in different locations,” Crane said.
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In 2017, he recalls, volunteers built 18 homes and worked through the night. Carter was known for swinging the hammer and leading his team.
“He has a great work ethic,” Crane said. “In fact, whoever is assigned to work in his home is expected not to treat him as a famous or famous person, but to treat him like any other worker, which I am sure is very difficult.”
That year, Carter — then 93 years old — had a brief health scare, landing him at St. Boniface Hospital.
“He was determined to get back to the construction site the next day. It almost makes me cry just thinking about it. He wanted to be there with the families and all the volunteers who came out.”
Because of those poignant interactions, Crane and the rest of the Habitat for Humanity Manitoba community will remember Carter as a man of integrity.
“Whose words and deeds were completely consistent with his deeds.”
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