Robert Paul Craig

Born Saturday, August 16, 1919 in Decherd, Tennessee, he was the son of the late Wilburn Craig and the late Maude Mullens Craig, and he was the husband of Shirley (Young) Craig whom he was married to for 47 years.

Robert was a hardworking and honest man who loved his family. His friends often said that if they owned a business they would want Bob to be the manager. He started working at grocery stores when he was 11 years old and he worked in the food industry as a Retail Food Manager for 60 years before retiring. During those years, he was employed by Crawfords Market, Santa Glen Market and Rite Aid.

He bought his first house when he was 16 years old. At that time, his family was renting a house and the landlord said they had to move out because she was planning to sell it. Robert said I will buy and the landlord said he was too young. To that, Robert said I work and make money and I can make the payments, so the landlord sold him the house and he made his payments on time every month.

Another time, Robert bought his mom a rug that she wanted, but then realized she needed a vacuum cleaner. He went to Sears and he was told that he was too young to open an account. He ended up buying his mom the vacuum by going to the store every month to make the payment to the store manager.

He was also proud to have served his country. He served as a Sgt. in the U.S. Army from 1944 until 1946 and was stationed in the Philippines during World War II.

In his free time, Bob enjoyed sailing, and he was a pilot and loved to fly. One of his favorite hobbies was being a Ham Radio Operator (WD6ECH) that gave him the ability to communicate across town or anywhere around the world.

Surviving are wife, Shirley Craig, daughter, Paula Chihara, son John Amrhein, daughter Brenda Parson, sons, Brent Redfearn and Brad Redfern, 8 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

A visitation and service will be held on Monday, September 10. 2018 from 5-7 p.m. at the Miller-Jones Mortuary Chapel, 1501 W. Florida Avenue, Hemet, CA. A graveside service will be held on Tuesday, September 11, 2018 at 1:45 p.m. at the Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Boulevard, Riverside, CA.

Online condolences may be made to the family at www.miller-jones.com.