Craig C. Elliott

Craig C. Elliott, age 95, of Flint, MI died Monday, November 10, 2014, in hospice care, at Briarwood nursing facility in Flint, MI. A Prayer service will be held at 11:15 am on Thursday, November 13, 2014 at Dodds Dumanois Funeral Home, 901 Garland St., Flint, MI. Graveside service will be 9:00 am on Saturday, November 15, 2014 in Resurrection Cemetery, Lenexa, KS. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday, November 15th at Holy Cross Catholic Church, 8311 W. 93rd St., Overland Park, KS. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Whaley Children’s Center, 1201 North Grand Traverse St., Flint, MI 48503 or the Salvation Army, P.O. Box 412577, KCMO 64141.

Craig was born August 2, 1919 in Parks, Arkansas where he grew up on a cattle ranch. He graduated from High School at the age of 15, later graduating from the University of Arkansas at the age of 19. After college, he went to work for United Fruit, supervising a banana plantation in Central America until WWII. There he met Jeanne Mathias; they married in Mexico City in 1942 as they returned to the U.S. in 1942, Craig joined the U.S. Navy as an Ensign, assigned to underwater harbor protection in the Southwest Pacific. The couple had two children. After Craig was discharged from the Navy, he joined Hallmark cards as a salesman. He worked for many years in that capacity, until becoming a member of the Hallmark International sales team, selling in Central and South America.

When Craig and his first wife divorced, he moved to Kansas City where he eventually met and married Nancy O’Bryan. In 1968 Craig and Nancy moved to Flint, to run Lynn’s Hallmark store, in the Genesee Valley Mall. Craig later bought that store from Hallmark. Through hard work, Nancy and Craig built the store into one of the best Hallmark stores in the nation. At the age of 65, a great tragedy befell him when he lost his beloved wife Nancy to cancer. Both he and she loved to travel and even after her death, he continued to travel. Craig loved to work on his house and was amazingly gifted in his building skills. He was a long time member of St. John Vianney Parish and supported the church and other charities, including Whaley’s Children Center. He was a long time member of the YMCA on Pierson Rd, and he exercised regularly 4 times a week, until he was 94. Craig liked to watch sports on TV, especially his beloved Detroit Tigers. He could quote batting averages, pitcher’s records, etc…, accurately for years. Craig is survived by his daughter, Michelle of Atlanta, GA and his son, Lance and Lance’s wife of Casper, WY.