John Thomas Craighead MD

Tom was born in Denver, CO, on October 21, 1922, to John Richard and Jean Wilson Craighead. Tom was the first of two sons, his brother, James Wilson Craighead, of Denver, died in 2010, and Tom died on May 29, 2013. Tom attended school in Denver and spent every summer in Estes Park. In 1940, he went to Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH, and during that summer he worked for his friend, Kenny Perry in Steamboat Springs. It was at a barn dance he met Mary Holloway Fulton of Wilton, CT, because she and her Smith College classmates also had summer jobs in Steamboat Springs. The couple fell in love – surrounded by friends. In June 1942, Tom and Kenny enlisted in the Navy and entered the V-12 Program at the Univ. of CO. During the fall of 1943, Tom transferred to Cornell University Medical School in NYC, and graduated in 1949. He specialized in Internal Medicine and interned at New York’s Bellevue Hospital in July 1949. Tom and Mary married on February 11, 1950, in NYC’s Church of the Ascension. In the spring of 1951, their first child, John Thomas, Jr., was born. By the fall of 1951, Tom was called to active duty at the Marine Corps Recruiting Station in NYC. Three more children followed – Robert Fulton in 1954, Mary Holloway in 1956, and William Rodgers in 1961. Tom received orders to join the First Anti-Aircraft Division in Camp Pendleton, CA, and near the end of the first year, he was sent to the 1st Marine Division in Korea. There he served as Battalion, then Regimental Medical Officer for a year, and as a Regimental Surgeon for six more months. Upon returning home (May 1953), he was sent to the US Naval Hospital in Oakland, CA, for his medical residency. Later, his assignments included the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD, the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, (including Assistant Doctor for Navy’s football team), the Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, FL, the Command and Staff College at Quantico, VA, and finally, as a Commanding Officer of the 1st Medical Battalion of the 1st Marine Division at Camp Pendleton. In 1965, Tom retired from the Navy and opened a private practice in allergy on the Eastern Shore of MD, where he had offices in Easton and Salisbury, MD and Seaford, DE. As his children grew, he and Mary enjoyed their life in the area known as “the Land of Pleasant Living.” By 1989 her retired from his medical practice and remained dedicated to all of his church and civic leadership duties. He and Mary served at Christ Church, Easton, MD, and in the Diocese of Easton in numerous capacities. He chaired the Bishop’s Search Committee for the Diocese of Easton, which selected the Rt. Rev. James Shand. Tom also served on the Board of Governors of Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, MD for 25+ years, and was elected to the MD State Central Committee, Republican Party. He was elected and served as a Judge to the Orphan’s Court (Probate) of Talbot Co., MD, for a total of 12 years. Tom was also an avid reader and water color artist – with some professional realization. He and Mary traveled extensively, which produced themes found in much of his art. Tom was also devoted to his numerous friends, patients, and their families. Three children survive him, John Thomas, Jr. (Tom) and his wife, Lorna Walker, of Vashon Island, WA, and their sons, James Walker of Providence, RI, and Alexander Stewart of Frankfurt, GER; Mary Holloway, 5th (Holly) of Oakmont, PA, and her daughters, Mary Holloway, 6th (Meghan) of Fort Collins, CO, and Anne Merrill Hardcastle of Mount Pleasant, SC; and William Rodgers (Bill) and his wife, Elizabeth Archbold, of La Mesa, CA, and their young sons, William John (Will) and Jacob Robert (Jacob). Tom’s second son, Robert Fulton (Bob) died in 1983 and has been deeply missed. Tom and Mary celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Feb. 11, 2000 with family and friends. Tragically, his beloved died in 2003 at their St. Michael’s, MD, home. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Margaret Maier Craighead, from Denver, CO; her sons, John R. Craighead, his wife, Melissa, and their children, Ian, Katherine, and Colin, of Greenwood Village, CO, and James Craighead, of Denver. His sister-in-law, Carol Fulton Stafford, and her husband, James, of Kennewick, WA, predeceased him. Their sons include, Daniel Stafford, and his wife, Kelly, reside in Pasco, WA; and Robert Stafford lives in the family home in Kennewick, WA. There are four great nieces and nephews in the US and New Zealand. Memorial gifts may be made to the Mary Fulton “Bumper” Craighead ’44 Memorial Scholarship Fund (# 562270) of Smith College, 33 Elm St., Northampton, MA, 01063 – or call the Alumna Association (413) 585-2020 for on-line giving. A funeral service will be held at Christ Church in Easton, MD, on Saturday, August 17, 2013, at 10 am. Military honors will be performed at the church. A private burial will be held at Oxford Cemetery, Oxford, MD.

John Thomas Craighead MD

October 21, 1922 - May 29, 2013