Bob’s Job

An Autobiography

~

robert blair craig

          Why would someone care to spend all this time and effort to place so many thoughts and memories into the pages of immortality? The question is ask and then the answer quickly given: Why do this? Because it matters.

So we will start with, “It Matters!”

     It matters because we cannot know until we began to sift through the mountains of records – family traditions (Traditions mean, things passed on by word of mouth), these have become a main source for us. There will be no apology for that .Some question source and elevate it to a plane that it cannot possibly deserve. Sources, as portrayed by the experts and self called archeologists, are often found to be flawed.

     One becomes surprised at the reliability of traditional stories. That is what is sad about doing family research. [we prefer to identify what a family tree is as more research than ancestry]. Now, the NOUN for ‘archeologists’ is “one who studies prehistoric people and their culture; also, archeologist and sometimes, archaeologist. Don’t you really wonder if they know how to spell what it is that those involved in such are convinced that this is what they do.

     There is genealogy, ancestry and other names to make something simple sound really difficult. Well, it isn’t simple. But, it is do-able.

     So, knowing that, we are going to do it.

     Another subject along this line is YOU, and what it is that you can do to help.

     YOU are the greatest source that there is. Without you, there will be nothing. Nothing, that is, when it comes to you as a person. A family tree database will only contain information YOU allow to be placed there. Now, it doesn’t mean that your name won’t be there. It doesn’t mean that some things about you won’t be included. However, what is meant is this: only you can present you to the future in the unique manner that will allow folk up the ladder of years and generations to have some idea of who you where, what you did, how you felt about things and where it was that you hoped one day to be.

     Every day of life presents to Bob the fact of his own mortality. It doesn’t mean that he feels close to the end of his days . . . exactly, but the more that he learns about his ancestors the more apparent it becomes, in his mind, that only what is put in the record will endure. Long after we all have moved into the next realm, those who follow will search for and wonder long about who we were, what was it that we did, and, why did we do it.

     Think of John Craig for instance. It is thought that John was indentured, or occupied in servitude, to his brother Henry. And that he therefore worked as a cabinet maker in Philadelphia. This sounds like a Craig ancestor. Indentured! Bob has felt quite like one indentured all his life.

     The David Fleming family succumbed to a form of indenture ship. They owned and worked a farm in Rayne Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. When the early 1900's forced hard times on everyone, then the depression. David Fleming had died in 1928 and Harry Blair Fleming did everything he could to keep the farm but alas, the income just wasn’t there and the bank took the property. Harry Blair had to move. Through the Mentch connections (I have no idea why the Mentch & Holmes family didn’t help Harry keep the property), Harry was offered a caretaker position at the Bennet Farm in Indiana, PA.

     Because no one has written concerning this situation, little or nothing is know of the circumstances. It had to be a heart-brake for the family. One can only wish that more was known so as to fill in the blanks of history.

     On the Craig side of the family, a very similar thing occurred. The Craig family, in the early history of Armstrong County, owned a farm not far from Parkwood, PA (Then known as Stewartsville). Indeed, if you study the Indiana County RootsWeb Site, (they have an interactive map), it is quite telling. On this map there is not a single Craig land owner in Parkwood. There is only one Craig owned plot of land located a bit North West of Parkwood. This farm was also lost due to the financial hard times of the 1920's and beyond. From a bit of news dropped at this years 18^th Annual Craig Reunion (July 20, 2002) it is now confirmed that the Craigs also lost their farm during the depression. After years of wondering about how that had come about it was finally noted to the pages of history that this is why such a large family – 11 children – were relegated to being raised in a small 2 bedroom house – or worse yet, in what is known today as a cottage.

     These things happen. We are richer for knowing and understanding our heritage. We should not be ashamed of things we can’t help or change. One other thing concerning the Fleming & Craig farms: Neither would become a working farm again. (Until this day in 2002) Both pieces of land sits abandoned and unused.

     Rather strange. On the same map, in the Armstrong Township area, there are three FLEMING Districts, one Anderson, and no Craig District.. So from the 1871 Beers Atlas published in 1880 one can determine the landowners of that day. At the extreme North West corner of Stewartsville District No. 6, there is the one Craig property.

     Conversely, the opposite seems true concerning the Fleming populated areas of Green Township where both Flemings and Craigs dotted the landscape of that day. It would appear that both families had crossed paths many times prior to LeRoy and Hannah being married.

     Robert LeRoy Craig married Hannah Jemima Fleming on June 22, 1933. This began his indentured experience. It is not here recalled exactly who it was, but a lady, or family, not far from Parkwood, close to where Ruth Craig and Tom Redinger built their home, opened a part of her home to allow LeRoy and Hannah a place to begin. It is a faint memory, but one can recall Hannah talking about it. Some time later, LeRoy bought a home in Kent, PA. He worked for the McIntyre Coal Co., and often “Owed his soul to the Company Store.”

     LeRoy obviously did well working in the mines. Obviously, because not only was he buying a home, but a new Oldsmobile as well. How smartly he looked as he posed for his picture to be taken standing next to his new car.

     A son was born into the home on December 14, 1937. Times were hard then and to complicate the situation, LeRoy was tested positive with Black Lung Disease from his years in the coal mines. He was told that, how long he’d live depended on how soon he left the coal mines. This would have happened in about 1941-1942. A house to pay for. A car to pay for and keep up. A son to provide for. And a new baby on the way. (Kenneth Merle Craig, born September 26, 1942) All things that would place an immense amount of pressure on a young man with these responsibilities. What would he do? Where would they go?

     About the same time Hannah’s mother, Madge Alberta Holmes (Fleming), June 15, 1945, passed away. She had an extreme case of diabetes and after a toe became infected, she had multiple amputations to try and stay the advance of blood poisoning – gangrene, and it eventually couldn’t be stopped at the hip, and she died. Harry Blair Fleming, having lost his wife, decided to leave Bennet’s Farm near Indiana, PA, and work in the woods and build a saw mill. He worked in Clearfield County for a time before moving to Cherry Tree, and building a saw mill there with his son, Harold Blair Fleming. In that they were working as caretaker to the large farm owned by Ed Bennet before Madge died, that opened opportunity for LeRoy.

     So the LeRoy Craig family moved into the caretaker’s home directly behind the large Bennet Mansion. Today, it would only be considered to be a large house if it were still there. Now Rt. 422 runs right over the property. But, to us at that time, it was a mansion. It was huge, and as the Craigs would eventually learn, it was a place where huge drunken parties would be held. LeRoy was presented with a fairly decent occupation as caretaker and it seemed to be working out for the good.

     One memorable experience was the time when LeRoy gave a pail of seed onions to the boys to plant in a row he had made in the large garden behind the house. This went well for a time, but the older of the two boys suggested that they dig a deep hole and place all the onions in one hole and cover it up. That caused quite a stir when one mound of onions began to sprout and the row next to it was empty.

     Both boys had lots of great toys there on the farm. Mr. Bennet had provided quite well for his son and nearly any sort of toy he could dream of was given to him. Prior to this the toys Bob had were those that his dad had made for him. A wooden trike, a wooden wheel barrel, a little truck and a few small toys. Actually, the most memorable was a sleek sled as shown in photos at Kent. But, at Bennet’s Farm, he was allowed to play with all the nicest toys a kid in the 1940's could ever dream of. A large car that the boys could set in and peddle. A huge big red Rider Wagon, and so many other toys, it is difficult to remember. They were even allowed to ride Sadie, a pony they kept on the farm. There was a swimming pool that they could swim in – that is, when there were no guest in the mansion.

     The swimming pool. Fall came and there were logs placed in the pool to keep the ice from freezing and breaking the tile. For some reason and placing logs in the water kept the damage to a minium. When early spring arrived frogs would find their way into the pool and perch on these logs. One day, bored with all the great toys, Bob & Ken wondered up to the pool. They had found sticks and were reaching out to the logs and shoving them so as to see the frogs jump into the water. One time, Ken, the youngest of LeRoy’s sons, pushed a bit too hard and plop, he was in the water.

     Unfortunately Ken was too young to know how to swim. Bob tried to reach him with his hand, and then the stick, but to no avail. Kenny was going under and Bob panicked and bolted for the house. It was a good thing that dad was there. In a flash he ran to the pool, jumped in, and rescued Kenny. He wasn’t doing very well and it was decided to rush him to the hospital. Indiana Hospital was just up the road from Bennet’s Farm. One could almost see the back of the hospital from the farm. Hannah kept Ken from going to sleep and after a brief hospital visit, things got back to normal. Oh, yes, Bob took the blame, as with the onions, for not knowing better.

     You know, Bob just couldn’t keep himself out of trouble. If Ken did it, Bob got the blame. If Bob did it, Bob got the blame. Bob got a double dose of the blame all the time.

     Another occasion of trouble. It was decided one summer that Bob could spend a week with Richard Barclay, Eugene and Edna CRAIG Barclay. They lived in Apollo, PA. The summer was memorable. Three things stand out. Someone in Eugene’s family owned a farm near-by and we were invited to help (?) in making hay. Bob was very young but do recall the horse drawn wagon, a hay bailer, and men on both sides of the wagon throwing the bails of hay up to other men placing them on the wagon. Bobby didn’t do much work, but he can recall his first real bad case of hay fever. He sneezed all day and the next.

     There was also the case of the pile of lime. Someone had dumped a huge pile of lime next door to the Barclays’s and Dick and Bob decided it was a great place to play with the toy trucks. No one realized, or even thought of it, but the lime would burn both of our arms and hands really bad. They were both very sore for a couple of days. Then, there was the trip to town in the Model T Ford. Dick was privileged to ride in the rumble seat at the back of the car. Bob wasn’t allowed to for fear he would fall out. Dick amused everyone that day with his whistling at the girls on the street in Apollo His mother, Edna laughed about it, saying something like, Richard will never change.

     Then, Bob’s mom and dad and his brother arrived to bring him back home. It was a joyous occasion. Ken and Bob had never been apart since Ken was born and they were really excited when re-united. On the trip back to Indiana, PA, as they joyfully played in the back seat, Ken fell up against the door handle, and it being a door that opened to the front of the Olds, the wind caught the door and it swung open. Ken went out the door. Bob can recall looking back and seeing his brother tumble head over heals on the side of the road. In those days one didn’t drive very fast, and that is a good thing for Ken. After he was picked up, rolled into a blanked, we once again rushed toward Indiana Hospital. All the time, Hannah kept jostling Ken to keep him awake. She feared that if he were to dose off, he might go into a comma. Ken got better and that was a memorable summer.

     The caretaker position at the farm began to be more demanding on Hannah and LeRoy than they had bargained for. When it was discovered that Hannah was a great cook, she was given the additional task of cooking and looking after the Big House next door. It was placing a great strain on Hannah. There was a time when a party turned out to be a week long ordeal. As she was picking up things through the house one day, she went into a bed room and there was a couple there that was said to be sick. It turned out that they were drunk. They had bottles of whisky hid under the bed. When no one was looking they would continue the week-long-binge – they just never stopped drinking.

     Hannah & LeRoy had not long been attending a little church in Altman, PA. Rev. Hess was the pastor. The drinking thing didn’t set well with Hannah and it began to tarnish the relationship with Mr. Bennet. When she told him outright that she no longer would take care of the big house, and that it wasn’t in the agreement, Mr Bennet came to the house and read the riot act. He decided, in that Hannah’s mind couldn’t be changed that the Craigs had to move out immediately.

     LeRoy Craig’s brother, Merle Craig, worked at the R&P Coal Company as an executive and had contacts. Upon hearing of LeRoy’s predicament, he talked to Mr. Beuheight, owner of Beuheight Pyrofax Gas Co. Mr. Beuheight came to the house and offered LeRoy a job. Merle Craig had informed Mr. Beuheight of LeRoy’s expertise as a chief electrician and mechanic at the McIntyre Coal Company. Evidently he did a good job of selling his brother because Mr. Beuheight persuaded LeRoy to come work for him. Merle never told LeRoy of the connection and he never knew.

     There was a Haddin family selling a home in Dixonville, PA. Hannah had found this out through the Indiana Savings & Loan Bank, next to the Old Court House, Indiana, PA. It seems that the bank officer Hannah talked to was an ancestor of the Holmes and Mentch family of Cookport & Clymer, PA areas. There is no doubt that Hannah’s family connection helped secure the loan to cover the mortgage and the deal was finalized. The LeRoy Craigs moved to Dixonville, PA. Things were really tight financially. Hannah took care of paying the bills and it was not infrequent that Hannah and LeRoy could be heard loudly arguing about the money. Yet, Leroy did have a job, and, it was steady work. But the pay was less than that of the coal mines. One could tell that it hurt LeRoy really bad when these arguments occurred.

     LeRoy was a warm and tender man. Hannah was a forceful woman. There was one time when the argument got so loud and fierce that LeRoy did take Hannah to the floor, and had to sit on Hannah to keep her from beating on him. One can look at the photograph of Harry Blair & Madge Alberta HOLMES Fleming and see that she had come from a forceful female home. Madge was a tough pioneer of a woman and it is obvious when one looks at the photograph.

     Something Bob is very ashamed of, among many things. One day while looking at his father’s coveralls, he loved dad’s coveralls, Bob found some money in his father’s wallet. Mr. Beuheight always saw to it that LeRoy had at least $20.00 to make change on the job. LeRoy’s work consisted of delivering one hundred pound cylinders of LP Gas and doing repairs or installations of gas stoves. For some inexpiable reason, Bob felt that he needed the money . . . needed it enough to reach into LeRoy’s coverall pocket and take out the wallet, stealing a twenty dollar bill.

     This was the sadist day of Bob Craig’s life. Not just in that the $20.00 had been stolen. It was much more than that. It was an accumulation of many sins all boiled down into one. First, there was the theft. Then, the heartache when Bob’s dad, LeRoy, discovered that it was missing. Bob had already spent the money on candy and roller skates down at the Dixonville Hardware. It was gone. It couldn’t be put back. Bob felt the guilt begin to build larger and larger – until it almost choked him. When ask about the money, Bob denied knowing anything about it.

     The next morning LeRoy left for work, worried about what he would tell Mr. Beuheight. Hannah, suspecting Bob from the beginning, began an intensive questioning about the money. Bob denied over and over, knowing anything about the twenty dollars. Hannah told Bob to take the butcher knife and go down to the Weeping Willow Tree and cut off twelve stout branches. This was the usual way of punishment back home in Dixonville, PA. About two times a year, Bob had to be punished for something or another, and rather harshly at that.

     This was going to be the harshest of any in memory. Cutting the branches one was going to be whipped with was bad enough, but, on this occasion, it broke all records in memory. The day came when Hannah reached back to slap at Bob and he would catch her arm and say, “No more, mom!” However, on this day Bob sat in the cellar awaiting the return of his mother. Soon she arrived back home and brought with her a playmate of Bob’s. She ask Bob again about the twenty-dollars and he continued to deny any knowledge of it. Bob continued to deny as the playmate admitted to Hannah that he and him had spent the twenty-dollars at the hardware store. Hannah had also talked to the store owner and he had confirmed to her that Bob had spent twenty dollars in his place of business. Yet, Bob, entrenched in the pit he had dug for himself, continued to lie and deny knowing anything about the twenty-dollars.

     To back-track a bit – Hannah had went to the Hardware Store first and found out about the money. She then took Bob, made him walk up the stairs, lay face down on the bed, tied him like an X to the head post and foot post, began to use the rods on his back and drew blood. After continued denials, even with the punishment, she then brought in the play-mate that had told her about the Hardware Store purchases. She brought the young lad to the bed room where Bob was tied down, and in front of her and Bob the boy told what was done with the money. Bob continued to deny.

     It was only after about four hours of this punishment that Bob began to brake and admit that he had indeed stolen the money from his father’s wallet. This story is nearly as difficult to retrieve from memory as it was that day – to admit, after so much lying, that he did indeed steal the money. It would almost appear that this incident would be indicative of incidents to come in the life of Bob Craig.

     That incident told revealed to Bob one thing in no uncertain ways. Bob would not steal again. Bob would tell the truth. But even more than those very important lesions, and more distressing than the two, the punishment handed down by one’s own mother would affect the mother-son-relationship forever. It was indeed very, very wrong of Bobby to steal the money. It was even more sad that Bob would lie so vigorously, and continuously. But from that day on, Bob had a different awareness of the kind of woman, Hannah, his mother, was.

     Bob could recall one occasion when he walked into the up-stair guest bedroom to see what the confusion and commotion was all about. The time when he found LeRoy, his father, sitting on top of Hannah, his mother, to hold her down. She was out of control then and he had to do it.

     On another occasion Bob could recall the time he walked into the cellar and found his father sitting at the foot of the steps that led to the kitchen, his head in his hands and bawling like a child. LeRoy told his son at that time, “You really want to be sure about a woman before you ever think about marriage.” Bob was quite young at the time, but indeed that statement was seared as though branded on his forehead and brain, deep into his mind and memory.

     Indeed, Bob was affected in many ways by the actions of his mother. She could be sweet and warm and gracious. In seconds, like a flash of light, she could be brutal, bitter, hateful and scornful. She could mouth words that would cut deep and leave unhealed wounds. For years Bob would be cautious and wary of women and their intentions, aspirations and their purpose in life. It was not fear of woman, but a cautious awareness of them.

     The question was, how would this experience effect Bob in the later years of his life? Would this experience cause Bob to fear women? Will this cause him psychological difficulties during his life? Although this wasn’t the purpose of this document, it would only be prudent to look at this subject for a moment. Again, this is why history and family traditions need to be handed down. How can we learn how to face the future if we are unable to face the past?

     When one analyzes this discipline, especially in the year 2002, one would only view this as an example of a brutal child abuse incident. However, more important than that is this, what was it that caused Bob to be so belligerent, so determined not to admit the wrong that he had done?

     Could it be that Bob had more on his mind and then can be seen at first light? Bob may simply have endured this punishment as a sort of statement of determination that he wasn’t going to give into his mother’s whim. Yes, it can be said that this definitely had an impact on Bob’s adult life. Looking back over the years one can correlate many actions that seem strange at the time. That they happen suddenly – seemingly no reason for them to have occurred. How does a doctor or psychologists draw things together and come up with explanations to things have happened over the years and how one is influenced by earlier happenings in one’s life?

     One can look back over a lifetime and imagine all sorts of influences that have swayed things in one way or another. However, as Bob looks back he can not honestly say that he wasn’t negatively influenced emotionally in any way by the activities that happened that day. Oh yes, he will never forget it. He can’t say why he was so obstinate, stubborn or belligerent. It would have seemed to have made sense for him to have admitted early on what he had done. Did he do what he did more in rebellion to Hannah’s aggressive form of discipline. For instance – it would have hurt him far more if she had just said, “you just wait to your dad gets home.” He would’ve been more concerned about that by far more than he would have been concerned about cutting the rods from the weeping willow tree down below the house. One must pose the question, “Did he display his obstinate actions as a revolt against his mother?”

     Out in public Hannah was always kind, sweet and gentle in the presence of others. But at home, if one stepped out of line she could be very brutal. The day Bob graduated from Green Township High School he began to packing to go to Philadelphia and prepare to attend classes in the fall of 1959, Philadelphia College of the Bible. It almost seems as though he couldn’t wait to get out of the house. And that was the fact. Bob’s regrets that he was leaving dad. He had a deep abiding love for his father and will always remember him in a good lite. 

Occasion of the 56 Ford Thunderbird.

     In 1956, after the Philadelphia College of the Bible didn’t work out for Bob, he joined the U.S. Navy. This was done with out consultation with LeRoy or Hannah. Because of his dad’s meager income they were unable to support Bob in College. The Cavalry Baptist Church in Buck Run, PA, also was unable to provide any assistance. Therefore, unwilling to return back to Dixonville a wash-out of College, the lesser of the two difficulties was accomplished by entering the service. It was a sudden move and Bob found himself in the middle of January, 1956, in Chicago, IL., and the Great Lakes Naval Training Center.

     Bob had never known what it was to earn or have money. What little he had made in Philadelphia, PA, prior to the school year beginning, was barely enough to meet his meager needs. In fact, it was cheaper for him to pack his dirty clothes in a case made for postal mailing and send them home to be washed and returned. Very little was saved for the fall semester, however, Bob felt it was worth it just being away from Dixonville, PA, and all the grief he had witnessed over the years.

     The Navy was the best thing that had ever happened for Bob. After completing basic training he was again home on leave. While at home Bob found that the car, the 48 Chivy he had learned to drive in, was in bad disrepair. Bob felt responsible for that. While in his last year of school he had put that poor little white car through some rough paces.

     Weather it was a sense of responsibility, embarrassment in that he felt it was his fault, or whatever . . . Bob felt he had to do something to help his mom and dad obtain dependable transportation. Bob talked his mother and father into trading the old Chivy for a brand new 1956 Ford Customized Thunderbird automobile. Bob promised to send home enough to make most of the payment each month out of his $99.00 monthly pay check from the Navy. He should have known better. His mother and father should have known better. None of the three did. So the deal was made and the Craigs were owners of the most modern looking automobile in town – indeed, the Township or County for that matter.

     The new car was a dream Bob would live over and over during the next 4 years while traveling the world (48 different countries in 3+ years). It was Bob’s understanding that during the 4 years his parents would do what they could to purchase a car of their own, and when Bob got out the 56 Ford would be his.

     As things worked out, Bob wasn’t able to send home as much as he had agreed to – but it still was a considerable amount figuring what his total income was. As well, when Bob came home after three years over seas, and arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, neither his mother or father were prepared to obtain a car of their own. Bob had a picture of the green 1956 T Bird taped to the inside of his locker door on board ship. Every day he would look at that photo and yearn for the day he could drive it once again. Neither Bob, nor his parents showed a lot of maturity when it came to the automobile agreement. First of all, they should have never agreed to such a thing from a mere 18 year old child. Bob should have never agreed to pay more than 80% of his monthly income of $99.00 to pay for the car.

     The time of arrival occurred when the U.S. Pocono docked in Norfolk, VA, and dad and Ken were there to welcome Bob home. They were quite noticeable standing there on the dock next to that shiny, and yes, to Bob, brand new car. The car was then about 4 years old. But, to Bob, it was as new as though just driven off the show room floor.

     Bob drove most of the way back to Dixonville, PA, and was full of pride and joy at being behind the wheel again. He didn’t even think about the shadow of heartaches that lay ahead – only that he was back home, and he was driving his new car, and that he would soon get to meet the girl (one that he’d known all through his childhood) that he had been corresponding with for the last year or so. Little did Bob consider anything about what affect his actions and expiations would have on his mother and father.

     It is difficult to say what it was that happened in Bob’s life which caused him and others around him so much grief when it came to money. Every dollar Bob touched his entire life seemed to shrink and disappear. Bob & money, or lack thereof, seemed to be nothing but painful experiences for him and others around him – time after time.

     Bob was home on leave and would spend the couple of weeks with the family, and yes, driving that car. In a matter of just a couple of weeks Bob put more miles on that car than his parents had the 3 years prior to his return. Not just the miles. His dad had agreed for him to be able to fill the car with gasolene at the Exxon Station in Indiana, PA. Bob used more gas in a short couple of weeks than his dad did in the previous year. The bill came due and not known to Bob, his father was not able to pay the bill. Bob only became aware of it when told that he could no longer charge gas at the Exxon Station.

     Leave was over, and Bob announced he was driving the car back to Norfolk, Virginia. There was still money owed on the car and the payments would then all have to be paid by Bob. Also, that left the folks without a car. Bob paid little attention to the hardship he was causing and that bill for the car haunted him, and his new wife, for years to come. It was re-financed by Household Finance several times before he was able to completely pay it off. In fact, the car was run into the ground, figuratively, and the engine blew up before the payment ran its course.

NOTE: A complete search of the computer hard drive has provided an earlier document entitled, “The Walking Man.” It was a abbreviated journal of some of life’s moments that are memorable to Glenda and Bob. Some of it is a repeat of subjects noted to this point.

'The Walking Man'

     The title of a song recently heard on the radio best describes the life experiences of Robert Blair Craig. The day following his graduation from Green Township High School he left for Philadelphia, PA. His intentions were to work the summer and begin classes at Philadelphia Bible Institute. At the time he felt a sincere calling to the ministry. Summer over and he began classes but soon felt uncomfortable with the extreme fundamental teaching and before the end of the 2nd semester left school and joined the US Navy.

     The Navy provided him with the 'Walking Man' transportation that started his long journey across the world. Boot Camp at Great Lakes, IL, communication school at Imperial Beach, CA, First stationed at Bremahaven, Germany, then Istanbul, Turkey; then on to the US Pocono for an extensive Mediterranean cruse. This Med. Cruse took him to Beirut, Lebanon, Naples & Rome, Italy, Tripoli, North Africa, the French Rivieri, back to Istanbul, Turkey, Spain & two Atlantic Ocean crossings by ship and 3 in US Air Force Planes.

     He got to see the Statue of Liberty and spent a couple of weeks in New York City. All at the expense of the USN. This 'Walking Man' infection was complete and his wonders did not stop with leaving the Navy. Glenda and Bob were married just three months prior to his discharge and they soon left Norfolk, VA, for Pennsylvania.

     Work was scarce in Norfolk as well as in PA, but after a time Bob’s dad got him a job with H.J. Beuheight, Pyrofax Gas, Indiana, PA. Wages were small and life was meager there. Bob, Glenda, Jeff & Roger survived then on about $10.00 a week for all groceries and toiletries. Not long after Jeff was born they were encouraged by word that work might be available in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Uncle SW Craig's encouragement was appreciated as they moved to Ft Wayne and started work at Wayne Pharmaceutical Supply Co, Ft Wayne, IN.

     It wasn't very long though that Bob’s imaginations and dreams provoked him to move his family to St. Peterburg, FL. Glenda and he found work there at the Dutch Pantry. It wasn’t long until they both began to get homesick for family and Virginia. So, it was back to VA, then back to PA. In Pa there was much family distress and they soon packed up again and left for the West. They ran out of money in Sulpulpa, OK, and he found temporary work at Liberty Glass.

     A friend Bob worked with had a garage apartment to live in. This friend was very persuasive about certain job possibilities in Colorado and after about 3 months they left for Climax, Colorado – to work in the mineral mines there. The money was good, but the winter severe. Roger, their youngest son, came down with an acute sickness that the Company Doctor said would only get better at lower altitudes. They literally left that day for Phoenix, AR. With no planning, they were in the hands of providence. Uncle John Learn, a relative on Bob’s mother's side, Fleming, came to their aid and allowed them to stay with him until they could get work and a place to stay. It was about 3 weeks. Bob soon found work (earnings were about 1/3 of what he had earned in the mines) and the family lived in Phoenix about a year. It was then back to Virginia.

     Prices Inc., an appliance retailer in Norfolk, VA became Bob’s real income job. He did quite well there and soon became manager of a retail outlet in Great Bridge, VA. They bought a home there and settled down for several years. One day he received a great job offer from the WT Grant Co. in Great Bridge and took it.

     It was a wonderful experience to be able to feel as though achievement and advancement was finally in his grasp after so many different job changes. The WT Grant Co. then transferred him to Punxetawney, PA, to help set up and open a new store there. Bob’s dad had passed away and his mother was living alone in Dixonville, PA. Bob made arrangements to buy and live in the old home place there – commuting to Punxey. After a couple of years there he was again transferred to a new opening WT Grant Store in Richmond, VA. Bob worked there until WT Grant Co. went out of business.

     Ironically, after leaving Richmond, they returned back to the Norfolk, VA area, where Prices Inc., re-hired him. It was at this time Bob began to have a deepening sense of his calling to the ministry that took him to Philadelphia so many year before. He attended several different community colleges and after accumulating about 2 years of credits Bob attended the Southeaster Baptist Theological Seminary and received his degree, license and ordination there in Wake Forest, North Carolina.

     While a Southern Baptist Minister Bob was blessed to serve three pastorates, start Trinity Baptist Mission in Hollister, NC, accepted a call to travel to Fort Collins, CO to begin a mission work there, Perarie Mountain Baptist Mission, and then another Baptist Church in South Carolina.

     Bob began to be discouraged by the lack of support of the Southern Baptist Convention for the mission endeavors in Colorado and therefore left the SBC for the United Methodist Church. While serving pastorates in North Carolina he continued his education and graduated from the Duke Divinity School, Duke University, Durham, NC. In many ways Bob began to "burn-out." In 1992 Bob shared his feelings with the General Board of Pensions of the UMC and they agreed to retire him on disability. To begin the road to recovery Bob & Glenda left NC for Texas. They worked one year at Lake Colorado City State Park, Texas. One of the very best years of their lives together. Bob was somewhat able to get back in touch a bit with himself and mostly with his God.

     They returned to VA were they have now lived for about8 years. They enjoy their two boys, their families - their grandchildren!

Back to the Memories

     The death of LeRoy Craig, the day after Christmas in 1968, was a devastating experience for Bob. Yet, when his mother died, July 21, 1982, it was a moment of acceptance with little grief. It wasn’t that Bob didn’t care. It was more about the memories. It would be just that – memories. When LeRoy died, all that Bob had known over the years that was good seemed to be on the verge of dying with his father.

     While in the Navy Bob had written his mother every week. There was one letter in which he ask Hannah if there was a girl she knew that would be willing to write to Bob. Hannah knew of a girl and a letter writing campaign was begun. A relationship soon developed. When Bob received his discharge from the Navy it was assumed that he would eventually marry Hannah’s choice of a women in his life. The girl she had picked out, it was learned, had a disposition not unlike Hannah’s and Bob soon chose another.

     The one he chose was unlike any girl Bob had ever known. She was not submissive. She was not demanding. In fact, in 1959, Glenda was everything Bob had hoped to find in a mate for life. He fell deeply in love with Glenda and that abiding love has endured the edges of Hell itself. That abiding love has seen both Bob & Glenda through the dreariest of days, and helped make most days the best-of-days! He could not have ask for a better choice in life.

     When Hannah found out about Bob’s choice she was distraught. She called Glenda every negative word in and out of the English Dictionary – on more than one occasion. Glenda was stronger than her. That helped ease tensions as financial difficulties in the early 1960s necessitated that Bob, Glenda and the boys return back to Dixonville. The relationship was always strained but because of Glenda’s strength, it never caused a rift in Bob’s relationship with her. Glenda stood up to Hannah and Hannah knew that she was a tough kid. It was the ride to and from work in Indiana with Hannah & LeRoy that eventually made it necessary for Bob to pack up and during the night slip his family out of town. It was the same old story over, and over, and over that drove Bob away from his parents. With a little less than $100.00 in his pocket, and driving an old 1949 Dodge Station Wagon, that Bob, Glenda, Jeff & Roger rode out of town and eventually ended up in Sulpulpa, OK, and then Leadville, CO. Bob simply could not stand the hypocrisy and the nagging.

     It can not be said that everything was perfect in the Bob Craig family all the time. There were rough edges. However, the family relationship until this day has been that of love and consideration for each other. When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians about the meaning of Love, it is well represented in the life of Bob, his wife Glenda, and his two sons, Jeffrey & Roger.

     As the years were added to the life of Bob Craig there became relationships with his brother, Ken, that would draw the two brothers apart from each other. Oh, no, there have been no words between them that would sour a brother relationship. It was more circumstances. Some of which were caused by finances, – more-so than it was anything else. Glenda, Myrna, our boys and their girls, have always got along real well. There were several summers that would be spent together in Virginia and the shores of North Carolina as we would spend vacations together. During those early years, when the kids were young, we got along wonderfully.

     As the children got older and began to live their own lives, Bob’s boys moved on to their own lives. Ken and Myrna had another child. There are times as one grows older that an adult conversation, absent the interruptions of children, is much desired. This is something that was never a problem when Bob was a child. He was taught manners. He was taught that when adults are holding a conversation, children were to be seen and not heard. A child never interrupts a person when they are speaking. Somewhere, that art of rasing children has been lost in the dust of humanity.

     Mannors changed seriously in the 1960-1970s. And today, if one is around children, the adults are to be seen and not heard. They can’t be heard because of the noise and interruptions of the children. In fact, if an adult does not cease and desist any conversation when a child want’s noticed that adult stands the possibility of being chastised, right there in public, by both the parents and children.

     Again, above – This is the reason that tradition needs to be put into words and placed where future generations can read it and learn from it. It is often said, “As the pendulum swings . . . “ One can only pray that it does swing, and swing soon.

Another thing that drove a silent wedge between Bob & Ken: In the late 1970s Bob began to suffer a loss of nerve endings in his back and legs. He spent sever weeks of hospitalization at Duke University Hospital. This caused a weakening of his relationship with the Churches he served – during this time of physical difficulty. Bob was also a bit over-weight . . . some of the medications also bloated his body. Ken, his brother, Myrna & Angie (the new child in the family) paid Bob a visit in Dunn, NC. Ken had not long prior became involved selling AllFoodTabs. A food supplement that is supposed to do wonders – And through a Pyramid scheme, allow one to earn mega- dollars. Well, Bob decided to try them and they did much of what was claimed they would do. Bob lost the pounds and that began to bring his health back in ways that were unbelievable. People at the church where he served a pastor began to ask what Bob did to so successfully bring down his weight.

     Not long after that, Ken persuaded Bob to become a distributer of the AllFoods Tablets. This went really well for some time. However, Bob’s health began to deteriorate once again and then came the heart attacks. A doctor at Duke University Hospital, when he found out about the AllFood Tabs, informed Bob that when he began to eat less food and depend more and more on the Tabs, it weakened his muscles to the point that the main muscle in the body, the heart – was weakened. Well, Bob didn’t blame Ken, his brother, for that. However, being involved as a distributer of the product meant that when it came to paying his medical bills and paying Ken for the product he had sent, and that Bob had sold, Bob made the bad choice to use the moneys to pay bills he had no other way of paying. Eventually, the whole situation caused Bob & Glenda to have to file for bankruptcy.

     The whole experience weakened Bob’s effectiveness as a minister. Not only was his health failing him, but his mental health was beginning to suffer as well. This continued situation in the life of Bob Craig in years to come would cause him to leave the ministry accepting a full disability from the United Methodist Church. Nothing has ever been said about all of this between Bob & Ken. However, in Bob’s mind, he is ever conscious of the matter. In some ways, this situation reminds him of the $20.00 he had stolen from his father so many years ago. Indeed, it wouldn’t be difficult, one would suppose, to convince Bob that God has placed a curse on any money Bob would touch. But it would appear that this is exactly the case.

     Medical bills, prescriptions, credit card bills. The financial difficulties of Robert Blair is never ending. As of this writing, September 1, 2002, Bob is still fighting the battle of the shrinking dollar. Creeping up at an ominous pace is December 14, 2002. This is the year Bob will move into full retirement from the United Methodist Church. Much apprehension is felt in the Craig home at Newport News, VA.

THIS ARTICLE IS IN CONSTRUCTION MODE. There will be much more to add to “Bob’s Jobs.”