Frank Jerome Craig

Frank Jerome Craig

Born July 5, 1936; died June 6, 2026

   Before the rising of the sun, June 6, 2026, our beloved father, Frank Jerome Craig, breathed his last earthly breath in the presence of his daughters as he went to be with his Lord, one month shy of his 90th birthday. The most important thing we can say about dad is that he was a good man. He was good to our mother, Sandra Barker, his wife of 27 years. He was good to his daughters, Cindi and Lisa, and to our spouses, Phil Thorne and Christian Davis, who became like sons to him; and he was good to our children, Rachel, Sarah, and Andrew, and their children, Naomi, Noah, James and Silas.  He was also a good husband to his second wife of nine years, Mary, and to her daughters, Debbie, Jimmie, Robin, Jackie and Marlo.

   Though a man of limited education, raised in impoverished circumstances as one of nine children by his parents, David and Syntia Craig, Frank began working in cable TV in the early sixties (before cable TV became a household word) after serving three years in the Air Force. He started his career in strand mapping, taught himself engineering design, and eventually started his own business. Dad was a hardworking man who was known for his integrity, reliability and attention to detail.  He was someone whose word and work could be trusted. Though we traveled as dad climbed the ladder, we never lacked anything we needed.

   But dad was not just a hard-working provider. He was a great dad.  He was both a firm disciplinarian and a lot of fun. He was a kid at heart who loved to play and make us laugh. He wore costumes at Halloween, played Santa or Rudolph at Christmas, and pulled us through the snow on sleds in winter. He was line-dancing and rollerblading into his 60’s, and golfing in his 70’s, until his neuropathy caught up with him.

   Dad wasn’t just good to his family, though.  His friends loved him and he was a favorite of the nurses and aids in the assisted living and skilled nursing facilities where he spent his last few years.  He was kind, patient, and grateful.  He had a sense of humor even when his faculties were fading and he was in pain.  Throughout his life dad was the Good Samaritan, always willing to stop for someone on the side of road.

   Was he perfect?  No.  Even if this obituary makes it sound like he was.  But he was good. And he was a faithful, devoted Christian who read his Bible, prayed, gave of his resources and served his church, all in a quiet and unassuming way.

Dad, we will miss you.  But not forever.