A man does well if he makes his mark emphatically and successfully in one area. He would be considered outstanding if he did it in two.

The amazing – and sad – thing is that William Stuart “Stu” Crine accomplished all that all by age 51, leaving a strong legacy of sound building codes and fire safety in both Tennessee and Iowa.

Crine, the Ankeny, Iowa Building Code Commissioner since 2004, died unexpectedly of an apparent heart attack March 20. He left behind a wife, Kim, a 15-year-old daughter, Caitlin, and a host of friends and co-workers who will miss him, but believe wholeheartedly they are better for having known him.

Among the many is Pat Daughenbaugh, Building Plan Reviewer for the State of Iowa and Crine’s first hire when he came to Iowa in 2004. He said Crine is widely credited with expanding and refining Iowa’s then-helter skelter building regulations into a better-working more understandable state building code. He did the same for the state’s electrical codes regarding smoke alarms.

To do that, Daughenbaugh said, Crine had to work with various building lobbies as well as the Iowa legislature in Des Moines. “He knew the art of compromise,” Daughenbaugh said. “It was absolutely amazing.”

Glenn Siders, President of the Home Builders Association of Iowa, said Crine was invaluable as a member of the Iowa Building Code Advisory Council.

“The Council was light years behind in the update of the State Building Code and was badly in need of establishing a positive relationship with the home building industry,” Siders said. “(Crine) saw this gap and was able to turn a negative environment into a positive relationship, not only with our industry but with the municipal code enforcement officials. We will miss him a great deal.”

Ron Hoover, an International Code Council Board of Directors Member, said Crine’s deft touch helped move along the process of a state building code. “He made thing work even though the legislature gave him something that didn’t work,” said Hoover, Director of Building Inspections for Marion, Iowa. “He knew what (the legislators) intended.”

At the same time Crine was building up Iowa’s Building Code, he also was building up his department in the State Fire Marshal’s Office. Until he got there, the Fire Marshal took care of all the building issues for the state. Crine then began expanding the department to include some seven employees to replace the contract workers who took on the duties before he got there.

And those employees have great memories.

Rich Bolten remembers that Crine, a native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, always showed the respect and gentleness of his Southern upbringing when he addressed people.

“As a supervisor, he knew that employees would have had the tendency to bring their problems to him, to make them his own,” Bolten said. “As a way to show people they need to be problem-solvers he bought a small barrel of plastic monkeys to hand out to people who would bring problems to him, as a way to remind them that they need to take ownership of the problem.

“And, until his last day, Stuart Crine, with his gentle heart and southern style gentleness, had never given any monkey away.”

Daughenbaugh said Crine was a very fair man, which Brian Bishop corroborates. One of Bishop’s fondest memories happened at the end of a weekly staff meeting just after he was hired. He said there had been a special request to modify working hours, and before he could approve it, he needed to get the rest of the staff’s input.

“We all sat there pondering what type of schedule it would be, such as four, 10-hour days, maybe 7-3:30, etc.,” Bishop said. “Stuart explained the request was that the employee would like to come in five minutes early and leave five minutes early to avoid traffic, and he just wanted to be sure that everyone was afforded the same opportunity if this was allowed.

“Anyone who knew Stuart knew that this was exactly the kind of thing that he would worry about. He was so concerned about making sure that his staff was treated fairly and equally.”

Ljerka Vasiljevicis remembers his staff was constantly kidding him about his need to have everything planned down to the finest detail, like the itinerary he left the first time he went on vacation.

“The staff thought that this was going to be just a couple of locations, hotels and maybe phones numbers,” Vasiljevicis said. “But the day he left, he presented his staff with a four-page, single-spaced document with the days broken down into basically 15-minute increments detailing everyday activities, including the exact time the entire family would wake up, or go to breakfast.”

Crine began his career in codes enforcement as the Fire Marshal for the East Ridge, Tennessee, Fire Department. He later joined the Tennessee State Fire Marshal's Office as a Facilities Construction Specialist. Crine became the Director of Administrative Services and was subsequently appointed as the Tennessee State Fire Marshal.

He became the Executive Director of the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy in 2002, and served as the Director of the Electrical Inspection Section just prior to his appointment Nov. 15, 2004, as the Iowa State Building Code Commissioner.

Terry Cobb, also an ICC Board Member, remembered his friend well from his days in Tennessee.

“Stuart was a good man, and I considered him a good friend,” Cobb said. “He was always interested in your point of view. He was a great listener and worked to build consensus. I often sought his advice. Stuart was the consummate public servant. He is arguably the best Fire Marshal that Tennessee has ever had.”

Because of his start as a volunteer firefighter and service with Fire Marshals in two states, Crine received the official, non-line of duty firefighter ceremony, including three final rings of the bell, signifying the job is over, and all can return to quarters.