Craig Kreutz 1923-2009

Melissa's grandfather, Craig, passed away Saturday morning. Here is the obituary written by Melissa's dad and aunt:

Craig Wheaton Kreutz died peacefully on March 28, 2009 in La Grande Oregon at the home of his oldest son, after a short battle with cancer. He was born on June 16, 1923 in White Salmon Wa. and after 4 months his family moved to Oregon where he resided for the rest of his life. Craig was a WWII veteran, serving in the 6th Army Division in the Phillipines and New Guinea. He married his childhood sweetheart, Pauline Weitzel at age 19 and they had 3 children, C.B., Barbara, and Rod. After Pauline died in 1981 he found companionship and love with a long-time friend, Alice Martin. In addition to his 3 children Craig is survived by 6 grandchildren, and 6 great grandchildren.

Craig retired from his woodworking business in 1980 and spent many happy times in Baja Mexico and on the Oregon and Washington coast with family and friends.

We don't know what our lives will be like without this gentle man, but when something breaks, we will hear him say, "everything wears out" and when we become impatient with another human being, we will hear him say, "he's doing the best he can with the tools he's got." And we will thank God for the time we had with him.

A celebration of his life will be held in the Portland area with the date and location to be announced at a later time. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to a charity of your choice.

I'm just going to reiterate what a sweet guy Craig was. He was quick to laugh, he loved to talk, and he wouldn't turn down a beer if offered one. And he'd probably put a shake or two of salt in, too, if any was available. There are a lot of reason I wish I'd met Melissa sooner; one of them was so I could have had a chance to get to know her grandpa better.

Good-bye, Craig, we'll miss you.