Donald Craig

On Sunday October 7th, 2012 Donald Ray Craig, beloved husband and father, passed away at his home in Bennett, Colorado. Don was born on 8/7/1953 in Pueblo, Colorado. His parents moved from Pueblo to Bennett and Don stayed in Pueblo to finish high school, while living with his grandmother. Don graduated from Pueblo Central High School in 1971. After graduating from high school, he moved to Denver where he then joined a carpenter's apprenticeship. Following completion of his apprenticeship, Don joined the carpenter's union and spent time progressing from a Labor, to laying out buildings and concrete foundations and reading blueprint drawings. He was a foreman for a while; however Don spent the majority of his time in a supervisory capacity as a Construction Superintendent. Throughout his career Don worked for many construction companies including: F. R. Orr Construction, Saunders Construction, and Etkin Construction. After spending 13 years with Saunders, Don ventured out and started his own company, Craig Construction. His last employer was A.D. Miller Construction Services Inc. until July of 2010 when he began having major health issues. Don was very attentive to detail and would always look at lines and moldings on buildings when we would be out and about. He was always very proud of his work in the construction field. Some of the buildings that he built include: South Suburban Church, Church of the Risen Christ, Villa Italia Mall, Montbello High School, several Public Service Credit Union remodels, the Paragon building, Park Meadows Marketplace, Sheridan School District new roof and remodel, Southwest Baptist Church, the log ride at the old Elitch Garden Amusement Park, and numerous high rise buildings in downtown Denver. Don met Brenda while participating in a bowling league for Diner's Club. Don moved out to Bennett in 1979 and Brenda followed shortly after. Don's parents lived in Bennett and owned the McDonald Park near the VFW. After spending three years of getting to know one another, Don and Brenda were married on April 25th, 1982 at Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Together they recently celebrated 30 wonderful years of marriage! The couple was blessed with two wonderful sons, Derek and Daren. Don has been very involved in the Bennett community where he was on the Planning and Zoning Commission for many years. He and Brenda joined the Bennett Jaycees in 1988 and were charter members. Don became a JCI Senator in April 1994, Senator # 52779 which is a very prestigious award. Don ran for State President of the Colorado Jaycees which is still one of the most contested races as he lost by only one vote. Don loved the outdoors and had many interests that included: hunting, fishing, hiking, watching the boys' activities, and gardening. The most important thing to him was his family. Don always said that he and Brenda were soul mates and they had a special everlasting love. He is preceded in death by his parents Ken and Virgie McDonald, his biological father, Casey Craig, his grandmother Opal George who turned 100 on 6/1/2011, and his older brother David. He is survived by his wife, Brenda, sons, Derek and Daren, mother-in-law Rita Skinner, sisters, Debby Cotton, Sharon McDonald, and Joyce Buessing, brothers, Royce McDonald, Kenny McDonald, and Steve McDonald.
A celebration of his life was on Saturday, 10/13/2012, 11:00am at The Strasburg Community Church, 56155 Sunset Ave. in Strasburg, Colorado. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Don's name c/o of The High Plains Bank, P.O. Box 329, Bennett, CO 80102.