Earl John Craighill

Earl’s long and fascinating life can be summed up as one that was fully enjoyed and well lived. The world will be forever grateful for his contribution to our use of computer voice recognition and VoIP technology. His friends will be forever grateful for his friendship. His family will be forever grateful for his guiding hand and undying love.

On August 21, 2024, he joined his parents and three siblings at eternal rest.

Born in Billings, Montana on May 29, 1940, he was the second oldest of the seven children born to Agnes and John Earl Craighill. With their parents, two brothers Jim and Tom and his sister Mary have passed away. Earl enjoyed his virtual meetings with his three surviving siblings; sisters Pat and Carrie and brother Bill who are enjoying life spread out through the US.

Twice married, Earl was a wonderful father to his four children; Jodie Karigaca and Casey Stafford whom he had with his first wife, Karilyn, and Sean Craighill and Lina Craighill whom he had with his second wife, Nancy. This blended family adored their dad as he did them. Earl also cherished the time he spent with his 4 grandchildren; Kelsey, Shay (Casey’s children), Aiden, and RJ (Jodie’s children).

Earl had a myriad of interests. Sparked by childhood summers spent at his Uncle Ray’s farm, Earl was able to make his dream of owning his own farm a reality in purchasing what was coined as, “The Betsy Ross Farm” in Mendocino. He admitted his Irish heritage also inspired him to own land and establish a comfortable place for family and friends to gather. Each Memorial Day, they always came together for a huge camping holiday to celebrate Earl’s self-proclaimed “Anniversary of his 40th birthday.”

He was an inquisitive man who loved figuring out how to make things work. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts at Carroll College in Helena, a Master of Engineering - MEng Electrical and Electronics Engineering at Montana State, attended Michigan State and became a Doctor of Philosophy with a PhD in Computer and Information Sciences in 1970. This extensive education led him to Silicon Valley and the Stanford Research Institute in the early 1970s where he was one of a team of pioneering engineers working on world changing early computer applications. This cutting-edge effort laid the groundwork for modern computer speech recognition which was a precursor to a voice-controlled virtual assistant service also known as Alexa/Siri used in millions of homes today. He was also a key member of the team who sent the first full transmission with what would become the internet standard we use today for nearly everything, from dating to rides to medical information. https://computerhistory.org/blog/born-in-a-van-happy-40th-birthday-to-the-internet/

Outside of work and after taking a well-deserved retirement, he poured his knowledge and heart into his varied passions. Along with deeply loving his close-knit family and with their support he was able to have a wonderful time fulfilling his dreams with his move to the Mendocino Coast, where there was plenty of room to delve into his enthusiastic pursuits.

His experiences drag racing as a young man around Billings drove his love of restoring and collecting classic cars. He always had at least a couple ‘project cars’ and usually many more.

As a boy, Earl loved his Lionel model trains and while living in Sunnyvale, he built an extensive garden railroad and became a member of the Bay Area Garden Railway Association. Once he moved to Mendocino, he was a founding partner in the Mendocino Coast Model Railroad & Historical Society in Fort Bragg. He upped the ante on a garden railroad and, along with his good friend Kenny Hannah, built an extensive model 7.5-gauge railroad which is big enough for people to ride on around his property. He loved to share this with kids, grandkids, and everyone.

Mostly he loved telling and hearing stories. He described himself as, “a good Irishman; one who could make a short story long.” Some of his favorite nights were ones he spent, “cogitating and ruminating and solving all the world’s problems.” His lasting legacy is summed up by his daughter Jodie, “Everyone he met became a friend and friends became family.” His infectious laugh, humor, warmth, charm, wisdom, and generosity will be missed by all those who came to know him.

Earl quietly passed away surrounded by those he loved after an tragic single car automobile accident near his home.

The family would like to thank and acknowledge the help of local Mendocino first responders, as well as the hospital staff and physicians in the ICU at Santa Rosa Memorial for all their kindness, compassion, and support.

A celebration of life will be held Memorial Day weekend 2025.