F. Craig McCurdy
On Oct. 24, 2023, F. Craig McCurdy, 76, went to be with the Lord, leaving behind a testimony of strong faith and deep love. "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5:8
Craig was born Jan. 3, 1947, in Titusville, Pennsylvania, son of Richard McCurdy and Jean Meddock McCurdy of Titusville. Part of his grade school and junior high school was spent in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia, where his father worked for Saudi Aramco Oil Company. He returned to Titusville in 1961 as a freshman and graduated from Titusville Senior High School in 1965. From 1964-1968, Craig played guitar professionally for a group called The Fenders in northwestern Pennsylvania and southwestern New York.
Craig met Debbie Fischer from Meadville, Pennsylvania, in the spring of 1969. They married Aug. 8, 1970. The next day they left for Fairbanks, Alaska, pulling a 22-foot travel trailer which they ended up living in for three years. He served in the Pennsylvania and Alaska Army National Guards from 1968 to 1974, attaining the rank of E-5. Craig attended the University of Pittsburgh, Robert Morris Business College, and graduated from the University of Alaska with an AA degree in science in 1979. He entered the IBEW Electrical Lineman's apprenticeship in 1974 and was employed as a lineman for GVEA from 1979 until retiring in 2005. For many of those years he served as the union shop steward.
"Cowboy" Craig enjoyed rodeos and participated in the bull riding competition locally and statewide during the early 1980s. His greatest enjoyment and one of the things that drew him to Alaska was hunting and fishing. Some of his more memorable trophies in Alaska were Dall sheep and Kodiak brown bear. He also had a passion for waterfowl hunting, spending many opening weekends with his dog and family in the Minto Flats. He and Debbie went on a safari to Tanzania, East Africa, in 2000 where he hunted lion and cape buffalo. He shot two cape buffalo and several plains game.
Craig graduated from Northwest Iowa School of Taxidermy in 1992 and practiced taxidermy in his spare time. He also earned a Veterinary Assistant Certificate from Penn Foster College in 2010 and worked for a short time at Golden Heart Veterinary Clinic in 2010 and 2011. He was a member of Bible Baptist Church. He and Debbie often helped during the summers at Kako Lake Bible Camp, a youth camp near Russian Mission on the lower Yukon River. Craig graduated from Faith Bible Institute in 2012 with a college degree in Bible. He also worked in the Reformer's Unanimous program at the church.
Craig is survived by his beloved wife, Debbie; his son, Clayton (Robyn); granddaughters, Yelisa (Aaron), Emily, Kayla and Kyleigh; and great-granddaughter, Liliana.
Funeral services will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, at Bible Baptist Church. Visitation is from 6-7 p.m. Internment will be at East Troy Cemetery near Titusville, Pennsylvania.