Wilbur "Babe" Craig

Wilbur “Babe” Craig, was ushered through the clouds back into the arms of our Heavenly Father and his beloved bride, Jane, on Monday, July 24, 2023. When his soul took flight, Wilbur was 89 years old and had been battling Dementia and the return of Prostate Cancer. While his positivity was still living strong, his body was ready to rest in peace and his heart only wanted to be with Jane. Once he gained his children’s “OK” to depart from his Earthly life, he raced to those pearly gates and surrendered his spirit ever so peacefully at Good Samaritan Society Fort Collins Village in Colorado.

Born to Oval and Mildred Craig in Princeton, MO, Wilbur was the oldest of his three siblings: Nolan, Belva and Neva. A country boy at heart, he adored the outdoors and first fell in love with Wyoming when he spent a short chapter of his childhood in Emblem, Greybull and Worland. The majority of his youth was lived on his grandparent’s farm in Mercer County, MO – where he predominately learned how to be the great man he would become from his hero, William Jennings Hallcroft or Grandpa Will.

Wilbur’s mama was the apple of his eye and he was her knight in shining armor. He missed a lot of High School tending to her needs, and thus never got a diploma. But what Wilbur did get was the sweetest girl at the soda shop and in his eyes – the world. Wilbur and Jane married on April 21, 1953 which was her 18th birthday, and more importantly the day her father, Laird Smith, could no longer protest their union. They tied the knot and went on to write their love story. Toward the end of the Korean War Era, they became pregnant with their first-born, Randy, and two years later daughter, Teresa.

Faithful to his core, Wilbur attained the third Masonic degree of “Master Mason,” the highest rank in all of Masonry. A devoted husband and father, Wilbur labored hard on their Winston farm and for the Highway Department, dabbled in door-to-door vacuum and insurance sales, and fueled his love for automobiles at Ford Motor Company on the assembly line. He was fearless throughout his life working any job to make ends meet.

Then in the Summer of ’69, along came an unexpected surprise – their second daughter, Tonia, was born. By 1971, Wilbur was really missing Wyoming or where he so passionately referred to as “God’s Country,” so he packed up the family and moved back to Worland. He worked a variety of jobs from the Wyoming Industrial Institute for Boys, Culligan Water Systems, Worland Water Treatment Plant, Wyoming Gas Company, and was even a cement driver, backhoe operator and dog groomer. Never without a pet, Wilbur was a huge animal lover – both domestic and wildlife.

Wilbur enjoyed hunting, fishing, snowmobiling and riding motorcycles in the Big Horn Mountains. In 1979, opportunity knocked for him and Jane to take over ownership of the old-fashioned soda fountain, Dirty Sally’s in Ten Sleep, WY. Wilbur’s dynamic personality and knack for sales combined with Jane’s caring demeanor and home cooking skills made them one sweet dream of a team for over 13 years. Wilbur, an old west aficionado, became the biggest gun dealer in Wyoming. He and Jane together made Dirty Sally’s not only world-famous but a “must stop” when traveling through the “Cowboy State.”

In 1990 seeking semi-retirement, The Craigs set off to Dubois, WY to build their dream log home. While working part-time for the U.S. Forest Service, Wilbur began “tinkering in wood.” This so-called hobby turned into him creating museum-quality wood art replicas of anything automotive, otherwise known as “Wood Art In Motion.” Wilbur continued elevating his artistic genius with each move they made from St. George, UT to Cheyenne, WY to Burns, WY. His grandest masterpiece, the Big Boy Train, took him over two years to build and has been on exhibition at the Cheyenne Train Depot for the past two decades. One of Wilbur’s bulldozers is showcased at Caterpillar in Peoria, IL. He also handcrafted military jeeps for celebrity veterans: Chuck Norris, Dennis Franz, Tim Conway and Ernest Borgnine.

Not only will Wilbur’s genius artwork be his eternal legacy, but he will be remembered for his incomparable sense of humor, “gift of gab,” undying love for his family and being a true “Proverbs 31 Man.” Wilbur unequivocally treasured Jane by honoring her, respecting her, and thanking God for leading him to her on Earth and back to her in Heaven.

The moral of his story: Wilbur loved people and people loved Wilbur.

Wilbur “Babe” Craig is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Randy and Susi Craig; daughter, Teresa “Craig” Gard; daughter and son-in-law, Tonia “Angel” and David Harvey; grandchildren, Jeremy and Angela Craig, Lexi Leckemby, Jessica and Jerry Lira, Shondra and Nick Madden; great-grandchildren, Markus, Janie, Isabelle, Autumn, Mya, Jordan, Keaton, Phoenix, Charleigh and Niko.

Please join us as we celebrate Wilbur’s life on Friday, August 11, 2023 at 2 pm at Hillsdale United Methodist Church: 1474 Markley Ave., Hillsdale, WY 82060. Pastor Virginia Erdmann will be officiating. Burial with balloon release will follow at Hillsdale Cemetery.