Politicos gather to honor former treasurer Robert Crane

(Suzanne Kreiter/Globe Staff)

Former Treasurer Robert Crane with the plaque dedicating a park in his honor at Boston College.

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

A who's who of local and state politics gathered at Boston College this morning to dedicate a small campus park to Robert Crane, who served as state treasurer for 27 years and is credited with bringing the lottery to the commonwealth.

Laughter abounded inside the white tent erected on a parking lot behind St. Ignatius Church on Commonwealth Avenue, as approximately 300 of Crane's friends and political allies listened to a dozen or so speakers deliver one-liners or humorous stories about his career.

"There is no way you can prepare yourself for these, I'm at a loss for words,'' Crane told the audience.

The event lasted for about two hours. Later, the attendees walked a short distance to the park that now bears Crane's name, off Commonwealth Avenue and between Lower Campus Road and St. Thomas Road. A bronze plaque, bearing Crane's image, was set in a wall in the middle of the park.

"There has never been a gathering of so many people who used to be something in the Commonwealth,'' said Jack Connors Jr., a long-time friend of Crane's and the founder of a local advertising agency.

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