Allen Crandy never saw his daughter overcome autism, but his wife Jan knows he's watching, and is proud.
When the father of three found out his youngest daughter, Megan, had autism, he worked tirelessly to change Nevada's laws regarding treatment and education for autistic children. The 38-year-old Las Vegas resident refused to believe doctors when they said that no treatment was available for his daughter.
Crandy found a revolutionary treatment that was beginning to help his daughter but never saw the complete fruits of his efforts. The devoted dad was killed when a tornado tore through the convention tent where Crandy was working in downtown Salt Lake 10 years ago, sending a piece of flying debris onto his head and killing him.
Crandy had decided to work through lunch to finish setting up the last convention booths when he was struck--making him the only fatality in the F2 tornado that surprised outdoor retailers and Salt Lake residents alike on August 11, 1999.
"We were watching the tornado on TV in our office and I knew," said his widowed wife Jan Crandy. "They didn't say it on TV, but I knew."
Jan kept the news from her two daughters, then 8-year-old Jenny and 6-year-old Megan. Three days after his death, Jan said she walked into Megan's room and went to lay down next to her to comfort the girl, who was still unaware of her father's demise.
"But she said I couldn't lay there because her daddy was there, laying next to her," Jan Crandy, now 48, said over the phone. "I believe he was there in spirit. It was comforting."
To keep her husband's memory strong, Jan decided to finish the work Allen had begun so many years before. When Megan was diagnosed with autism, her father starting searching for alternative treatment methods and found applied behavior analysis, which breaks down behaviors and teaches children to replace it with another one.
"Most autistic children don't take advantage of imitation, so they don't learn from their environment," Jan Crandy said. "The treatment definitely worked for Megan. She spent 35 hours a week until she was 7 years old, and then it faded down to 20 hours. Now she has friends. She will be able to have a job. She's funny. She cares about people."
Yet more than 10 years ago, not only was the treatment little known in Nevada, but autism treatment or medical bills for it were not covered by most insurances, Jan Crandy said. And many parents of autistic children were unsure what options were available for their children.
Allan was very determined. He wanted to save his child," Jan Crandy said. "In Nevada, we were talking to professionals and they gave us no hope. We opened our home invited other parents to see what Megan's treatment was like."
It started small.
He co-organized the Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT) of Southern Nevada. Crandy also testified in front of the Nevada State Legislature for autism and fought against regulations within the school district about physical restraint against an autistic child and the teaching and treatment available for kids.
Autistic children can't always communicate and sometimes become frustrated, having tantrums or self-injurious behavior.
"Instead of teaching them how to sit in the chair, they would buckle them in the chair," Jan Crandy said. "Allen did a lot of research. He knew you could teach kids not to do challenging behaviors.
And now, 10 years after his death, Crandy's initial work has helped lead to Nevada becoming the 11th state to offer small and large group insurance for autism. School districts have treatment and education programs for autistic children.
Allen's coworkers remember him years later as a dedicated worker who loved his wife, two daughters and son, John Paul Crandy, more than anything in the world.
Jim Martin, Crandy's supervisor at Renaissance, a booth set-up company, saw Crandy five minutes before the tornado struck, having made plans with him to have a couple drinks after work was finished.
"I was standing over him when they pulled the covers over his head," said Martin, who had been in the Wyndham Hotel when the tornado hit. "He was laid out there and I thought they were treating him. I tried shaking him to wake him up. That's when they told me he was dead."
Zoran Ninikovic describes Allen as a "gentle giant." Crandy and Ninikovic were coworkers and friends, and right before he left for Salt Lake, Ninikovic said they were talking about life.
"He said, 'When your time is up it's up,'" Ninikovic said over the phone. "I always told him that if I could be born again, I would be like you."
e-mail: lgroves@desnews.com