Taking hold of my line, I cast it in
Threading it like an artist through life's deep waters
I took in the slack when turbulent eddies flowed
And laughed while wading in its shallows.
Dr James Kenneth (Ken) Craig died after a protracted illness borne with courage. Educated in Avoca School, Blackrock, he was the only child of Professor James Ferguson Craig (who was principal of the then Royal Veterinary College, now the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, UCD) and Nora (nee Scott). He was married to Cecily, the daughter of Turner and Mabel Huggard. Ken qualified from TCD in 1939 and worked as a young doctor in the Adelaide and Rotunda hospitals. After taking his finals he joined the RAF during the second World War and was given the rank of Wing Commander. He served in the Middle East and in Africa and rose to the rank of Squadron Leader.
After the war he joined the British colonial service where he was appointed Provincial Medical Officer, Central Province, Kenya. He had a keen interest in public health and in 1952 he was awarded an MD for his treatise "some public health problems in the highlands of Kenya". This was during the troubled times in that country and the Mau Mau uprising (his family would recall the times they hid under the bed with the dresser jammed against the door as Ken traipsed off through the bush to help the wounded).
During his time in Kenya he was honoured by being appointed visiting doctor to the Queen Mother for the duration of her visit to that country and in 1956 he was awarded the MBE for his service to the Crown and his contribution to the medical welfare of Kenya.
After 18 years in Africa he worked for the WHO in Laos where he spent two years helping to organise the health service. He returned to work in the colonial service where he spent the last 12 years of his career in Hong Kong as Deputy Director of Health and Medicine and a Justice of the Peace.
In 1982 Ken and Cecily (who was ill at that time) came home to Dublin, where they lived at Seapoint, and where Ken unflinchingly cared for Cecily till her demise in 1993. A retiring man, he loved fly-fishing and spent many an hour on Irish rivers reading the streams and perfecting his fly-casting techniques.
I got to know Kenneth in his latter years and was always touched by his humour and modesty. "Did you play any sport Kenneth?" I would ask. A little hockey," he would reply. "Were you any good?" I would again ask. "Well, I played for Ireland at International level." He never mentioned that he had played on the famous Irish hockey team which won the Triple Crown three years in a row and had 15 caps.
"Oh, were you in the RAF during the war? And did you ever get to fly one of those planes?" "If I had done another 70 hours I would have had a pilot's licence." "I see so and so has been awarded an MBE," I would say. "Oh one of them things," he would reply. "I've got one of them."
Kenneth Craig was a lovely man, kind, unobtrusive and considerate. He will be sadly missed by his children, Susan, David, Helen, Michael, his grandchildren, great-grandchild, extended family and friends.