Jackie DeVere Craig

Jackie DeVere Craig 91 of Forney, Texas, and a previous (50-year) resident of Hawaii, passed away of natural causes at home on October 20, 2022 He was surrounded by members of his family as he left this earth to be with Jesus. Jackie was born on September 30, 1931, to Corine O’Brien and placed in the Gladney Center for Adoption. A few short months later, Ivan DeVere Craig and Lenora (Bell)Craig of Electra Texas, lovingly adopted him and welcomed him into their lives as their one and only child. It was only some 20 years ago that Jackie received a very surprising phone call. The voice on the other end of the line was that of his younger half-sister (Evelyn) he never knew he had. She too had been placed in the same Gladney Center after birth. It was only upon Evelyn’s research of her own background from Gladney that she found out about Jackie. So began 10 years of arduous searching (with her family's help) and on their last and final lead, she miraculously found him. Both of their lives took them in many different directions. However, in the end to all of our amazement, finding out our families only lived 1 1/2 hours away from each other in California. The treasure of adding new loved ones to our extended families has been a true blessing for us all!!! Jackie graduated from high school in Electra, Texas, and attempted to further his education at Arkansas State College, and the University of Texas Austin. Realizing college was not for him and upon his father's advice, he enlisted in the armed services. In February of 1952, Jackie joined the United States Navy where he proudly served our country during War and Peace. He did tours of duty in San Diego, Guam, Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, and Pearl Harbor Hawaii, where he ultimately retired. During his 20 years of service, he received many honors. He was selected as “SEA-BEE OF THE MONTH” (1958), “OUTSTANDING ENLISTED MAN OF THE YEAR” (1962) and received a Letter of Appreciation for “OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE’’ upon detachment from the USS LENAWEE [APA-195] (1966). He was awarded (5) Good Conduct Medals, (2) National Defense Service Medals, the Vietnam Service Medal ( with 2 campaign stars) the Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Navy Unit Commendation. Although this one will never appear on “Official Military” paperwork he was inducted into the unofficial order of The Golden Shellbacks by passing the “initiation ritual” while crossing the International Date Line. After retiring from the Navy he tried his hand at bartending for a short time but decided upon a more stable form of employment to support his family. He completed the classes required and became a Life Insurance agent for The John Hancock Company. He worked very successfully for the company for over 20 years. The last (10) took him back to Agana, Guam. When he returned to Hawaii, he officially joined the ranks of the Fully Retired!! Upon his retirement from the Navy, Jackie became a lifetime member of the Fleet Reserve Association. He served as the Honolulu Branch President for several years. However, one of his most proud evolvements was being a devoted volunteer with the Arizona Memorial Foundation. He served as a representative of the Memorial for many years. Jackie was a lover of ALL sports. Golf being his favorite. He proudly received his own “HOLE-IN-ONE on August 4th, 1998 at Mamala Bay Golf Club on 167-yard hole #2. It was also the highlight of every new year for him to serve at the Waialae Club in Honolulu as an Honorary Standard Bearer for the Sony Open. He carried the standards faithfully for 23 years. During his senior years, he made many trips to Las Vegas. This is where he became an avid fan of “TEXAS HOLD-EM”. One of his most successful trips was when he participated in the SENIORS Tournament at the RIO HOTEL. He finished 123rd out of 4,128 players. His standing motto was All you need is “A CHIP and A CHAIR”!!! Jackie was preceded in death by his parents. His first wife of 19 years ( the mother of their 3 daughters) Dora Catherine (Murphy) Craig, his second wife of 21 years Louise (Tolentino) Craig, uncle Roy Jones, aunt Trelice Jones, cousin Harry Jones, brother-in-law Marvin Ward, sister-in-law Claudine (Murphy) Ward, brother-in-law Ed Shea, and nephew Michael Shea He is survived by his younger sister Evelyn Shea, nephew Patrick Shea and niece Kristine Shea of Riverside, CA. Jackie is also survived by his loving children Lenora(Thomas)Dufour of San Diego, CA. Jackie Lipscomb of Forney, TX, and Belinda Craig (Justin Simonsen) of San Francisco, CA. Jackie was blessed with (2) lovely granddaughters Jennifer Dufour and Jessica (Jason)Adams. His Legacy will continue with his (3) precious great-grandchildren Olivia Grace, Adeline Nora, and Andrew James. Jackie is also survived by his girlfriend of over 18 years Maxine Clement (96) of Honolulu, HI, and all of her family who loved him very much!! Memorial Services will be held at Dallas/Fort Worth National Cemetery on May 3rd, 2023 where Jackie will be interned with Honors. His family will also be having an intimate service to lay part of his cremains to rest between his father and mother in Electra Texas. Jackie was a lover of people and he loved life. On behalf of our dad, we would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to all who helped to make his 91 years on this earth so memorable. Many of his fondest memories have now become ours to pass on. So, Daddy, we close this memorandum with one more Great Big “We ALL Love You”. As you always would say. . . Jessssst In Case!!!!