Passed away in Victoria, March 20, 2018, at the age of 90 (born June 3, 1927). Predeceased by son Chris, sister Joy (Ed McGougan), brother Evan (Dorelle) and sadly missed by his best friend, fellow spy, and loving wife Hanne, daughter Mary (John), son Drew, daughter Jennifer and her son Jacob, and many nieces and nephews. After serving as a Cadet, and in the Army Reserve units of both the Seaforth and Calgary Highlanders, in 1951 he became a professional soldier in the Regular Force. Craig served as an officer of the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, in many positions with his Regiment and also on staff in various locations across Canada and overseas, retiring in 1983. While serving with the United Nations in the Middle East in 1965, he met his wife who was there as an Officer and Nurse with a Danish Army Hospital. Two of his later appointments were as the Canadian Military Attache in Poland 1976-78 and later in Egypt and Sudan 1979-82. He also served as the Past President of the Royal United Services Institute, Vancouver. He retired first to Surrey, then to Parksville and finally Victoria, BC, where he lived for the last 17 years. During his time in Victoria he took to writing about the 1st Canadian Highland Battalion (1CHB) and the 1st Battalion Black Watch (RHR) of Canada.
In the later years, during key times both in celebration of life and death, Craig would share a quote on the matter of age. In 1955 General Douglas MacArthur on the subject of the youth and age stated:
"Youth is not entirely a time of life, it is a state of mind. It is not wholly a matter of ripe cheek's, red lips or supple knees. It is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigour of the emotions. Nobody grows old by living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as your despair. In the central place of every heart, there is a recording chamber, so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, and courage, so long are you young. When the wires are all down and your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then and then only are you grown old.”
Craig embraced beauty, hope, cheer and courage to the very end and indeed was forever young. A cremation and private family service is planned. Craig asked that friends “raise a glass” and make an extra donation this year to their favourite charity.
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