Craig William Bradley passed away on October 28th, 2024. He was 84 years old.

Craig was born September 29th, 1940 in Hollywood, California to William Edward and Anna Johanna Bradley. He was the eldest sibling to his sister, Joy Ann Bradley.

He married Katherine Faulkner, and they had a daughter, Shannon. After an amicable divorce, he met Gini Ellis in 1971, and they were married for 53 years.

Craig is survived by his children, Shannon Colleary (Michael), Gina Kershaw (Kenny) and Ryan (Ginell) as well as nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Craig was always a worker, finding ways to earn money. He told his children he started working at the age of seven – they’ll never know for sure if the age is accurate as Craig was known to tell fish tales from time to time, but he definitely collected soda bottles for their deposit money, mowed lawns and did an industrious variety of other things.

During his childhood, Craig tried out for Little League without a glove because his family couldn’t afford to buy him one. He was a star pitcher and pitched in the Pony League World Series in Pennsylvania. He returned home a baseball hero.

Craig played baseball throughout high school and college but was recruited as an insurance salesman while he was in college at Fresno State. Selling became Craig’s lifetime profession.

After selling insurance, Craig went to work for General Dynamics for about nine months, a job he greatly disliked. But the job was well worth it because that’s where he met Gini. Instant fireworks!

Shortly after his job at General Dynamics, Craig got a job with Springbok puzzles, a division of Hallmark cards. He worked for Hallmark in both sales and management, traveling throughout the United States until they consolidated and wanted him to move to Kansas City, which was when they parted ways. Craig was with Hallmark 23 years.

Craig always had an incredible work ethic. And his skills in sales were unmatched as he could talk anyone under a table and was known for his charisma and humor. He was also as handsome as Robert Conrad in The Wild Wild West – and that never hurt sales.

He continued selling gift items for various companies until he retired when he was 70.

Craig was always an incredible provider for his family. All of his children knew that their father was their safety net, should they ever fall. And that safety net extended to his sister, grandchildren and great grandchildren, too.

Last words about Craig. He was the best ping pong player on every cruise ship he and Gini set sail on – and probably in the world -- speaking of which, he and Gini traveled to all four corners of the earth – from Egypt and Greece to France and England to Brazil and Hawaii. No moss grew under their feet. It was a beautiful life.

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