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Vondel Smith
Funeral Home
Oklahoma City, OK
(permission granted)
Craig was born November 25th, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois to
his parents, Frederic Carr and Clarice Craig Goldsmith. Craig’s parents
divorced when he was 6 years old and he moved with his mother to
Stigler, Oklahoma to live near his aunt and uncle, Bob and Gertrude
Kelsey. He went to Stigler High School and at the age of 18 joined the
US Army Air Corps during World War II. He trained as a bombardier on
B17s and B25s. He used to tell his family that he could drop a 500 pound
bomb into a pickle barrel from a moving aircraft at an altitude of
10,000 feet. He was honorably discharged in 1946 at the rank of Second
Lieutenant. He attended the University of Oklahoma on a GI Bill and
graduated fin 1950 with a degree in civil engineering. He married Edith
Marie Brown on November 3, 1951 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The young couple
lived in Tulsa, then in Independence, Missouri and later moved to
Oklahoma City in 1960. By that time they had three children, Charles,
Steven, and Jane. Craig worked as an engineer for a series of companies
and moved to Oklahoma City to join the team at Star Buildings Company.
Later, Craig started his own construction company that specialized in
prefabricated metal buildings. His company was very successful and it
built many buildings around the state of Oklahoma. From an early age,
Craig was an avid hunter and fisherman. He loved quail and duck hunting
and had a circle of “cronies” with whom he hunted and fished and
eventually that circle expanded to include his children and those of his
cronies. His hunting and fishing forays included trips to northern
Mexico for bass fishing and quail and goose hunting and those trips were
a great learning experience for his sons. Craig and his cronies hosted
an annual “duck blind party” for their families for many years. Craig
was also an accomplished ballroom dancer and was a sought-after dance
partner at Somerset Assisted Living until just weeks before his death.
Craig was a loving husband, devoted father and doting grandfather who
will be deeply missed.
Craig was preceded in death by his:
Parents.
Craig is survived by his:
Wife of nearly 62 years, Edith Marie
Goldsmith;
Son, Charles Goldsmith and his wife,
Deborah;
Son, Steven Goldsmith and his wife,
Rebecca;
Daughter, Jane Goldsmith Lepley and her
husband, Chris;
5 grandchildren: Alea, Rachel, Lauren,
Christopher and Jeff;
7 great grandchildren;
Brother, Linn Carr Goldsmith and
Hoyt Cemetery | Haskell Cemeteries Page | OK Cemeteries
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