Will "Willie" Craig

PHOTO COURTESY TIFFANY CRAIG BROWN

For those of you who have inquired: Will’s family is working on arrangements for a memorial. Details will be furnished as soon as they become available.

William Bruce Craig, known to his close friends as “Willie”, was the son of Col. William L. Craig (deceased) and Kimberly Scott Robb, who resides in the Natomas area of Sacramento. In addition to his mother, Will is survived by his sister, Tiffany Craig Brown, also of Sacramento and two nephews, Bryan Craig McDougall (San Francisco) and Robert Bruce McDougall (Roseville).

As a child growing up on military bases, Will traveled the world. Living in foreign places such as Ethiopia and Japan encouraged his deep understanding and respect for the uniqueness of people and their culture. He held deep concerns about and worked toward easing the burdens of those suffering from poverty, apartheid, human rights abuses and disease.

In 1973, Will graduated high school in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where he starred on the basketball team. From there, he moved to Irvine, California and attended Santa Ana College.

During a motorcycle trip in 1977, Will fell in love with the beauty and beaches of Santa Cruz, California and made the decision to move there. He enrolled in UC Santa Cruz, where he earned a Masters in Philosophy. While in school, he worked with a local carpenter to design and build furniture and gained fine woodworking skills.

In the late 80’s Will began working for KRUZ, a Santa Cruz television station. As a cameraman, he shot some news features and magazines but his primary focus was sports. He shot a variety of sporting events, including many college games and recruiting films for Stanford & Cal Berkeley. He also performed occasional shoots for ESPN and did some sports writing and reporting.

Will loved to run on the beach and one of his proudest achievements was finishing a Bay Area triathlon in which he competed to celebrate his 40th birthday.

Will later toured with several well-known musical groups shooting concert videos. His most recent expedition was in 2001, when he went on the road with Bon Jovi.

Will acquired the Natomas Journal in 2003. He served as Publisher and Editor of the Sacramento-community-based newspaper for the past six years. Under his direction, the Natomas Journal received Sacramento Magazine’s “Best of Sacramento” award for a community newspaper. And in 2006, Will was named Small Business Journalist of the Year.

Will was actively involved in the community in which he lived and where his newspaper was based. He founded and served as President of the Natomas Chamber of Commerce and as President of the Natomas Schools Foundation.

Will also helped design the bike and pedestrian grid for North Natomas to make it dovetail with South Natomas and provide efficient commutes for children and adults.

In 2008, Will became very ill and in January 2009 was diagnosed with lung disease. He was in and out of the hospital several times over the following two months. Subsequent to a biopsy procedure at UC Davis Medical Center, Will’s gentle heart failed him. He passed away at 1:00 p.m. on April 10, 2009.

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