Patricia Craig Johnson --- Searching for My Ancestors --- Sharing My Life Stories

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Saturday, February 8, 2014

Gerald Vuhr Craig 1915-1999 --- Birthday #99


My dad, Gerald Vuhr Craig would have been 99 years old on February 26, 2014.  Many people experienced knowing him. He was definitely an experience.  I hope someday someone will say that about me.  Dad was of the generation that really did do it their way.

How I would love to challenge him to a game of cribbage this evening. It was a standard thing when we were together for a visit.  As a matter of fact I don’t believe I have played cribbage since our last game, so many years ago.  I rarely won, but when I did it was a sweet success, for sure.  His mind was so quick, and he planned his moves so well, he was hard to beat.  This is why it was also hard to beat him at a game of pool.  Unfortunately, I didn’t inherit those particular skills from him.  Fortunately, I DID inherit many other skills from him.

In the picture above you see a little boy and his mother. This is my dad and anyone that ever knew him would recognize him because of his “Craig eyes”.  Even if you met him late in his life, you would recognize those eyes. They were steely blue and able to pierce like a laser if angered or if he was challenged.  They were mysterious because you couldn’t ever read what was behind them. This was another skill he had developed in his life.  Keeping things and feelings deep inside was his survival technique.

To say he was my girlhood hero would be a true statement. He was so handsome, and he was so able to talk to, and enjoy any person he met that you felt his charisma instantly. Nonetheless, I always knew there was a volatile side to his nature, so it was good to have a few survival skills of your own.  Maybe this is why I say knowing him was an experience.

I do know I am proud to be his oldest child, the one that remembers him as a very young man, struggling to find his place in the world.  And find it he did, as he was quite successful in his career at Peter Kiewit & Sons Construction Company in Omaha, Nebraska.  He was sent all over the world to complete difficult projects, and he never failed.


So I say, “Happy Birthday Dad”.  Please know I am proud of you and I am glad to be your daughter.  Patj 

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