Major (retired) Charles Theodore Craig Kamcke, CD

Craig passed away peacefully at home September 29^th in his 85^th year. The only child of Theodore and Ada Kamcke (Reid), he was predeceased by his beloved wife, Mary (Coulthard) and will be sadly missed by his daughter and best friend Meghan (Watkinson), her husband Matthew, and two treasured grandchildren Sophie and Andrew. He will be fondly remembered by his many friends.

Craig was educated at Upper Canada College, Ashbury College and Victoria College, at the University of Toronto where he was active in alumni affairs for many years, serving on the Board of Regents for six of them. For fifteen years he taught at St. Andrew’s College and was principal of Trafalgar Castle School for seventeen years. He had a long association with the military as a cadet, as a serving officer in the regular forces, in the reserves, and as a cadet instructor. He was a long-term member of the Royal Canadian Military Institute. Active in church work, he served as a warden at both All Saints Anglican Church, Whitby and St. Matthew’s Anglican Church in the Glebe, Ottawa. He served on many committees and boards, often in a leadership role.

An avid if somewhat dangerous golfer, Craig enjoyed a life-time love of the theatre. Although his many productions exhibited more enthusiasm than talent, they were almost always crowd pleasers. His attempts at writing poetry attracted a small but loyal following; Northrop Frye was not among them. He enjoyed bridge more for the society it provided than for the competition. Never fully at ease if he didn’t have a good book on the go, he fully enjoyed his book club where consideration of that month’s selection was often eclipsed by a discussion of current affairs and much laughter. He blamed his addiction to ketchup on his 8 years in boarding school. Never a smoker, he had a hard time resisting the offer of a well put together manhattan.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Ottawa Civic hospital and the LHIN who provided excellent care following a stroke last week. Craig was so happy to return home and be surrounded by friends, family and music for his final days.

A private family service, where Craig will join Mary, will take place with Military Honours in the National Military Cemetery, located at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.

A Celebration of Life will be organized at a later date when we can have the joyful music and jolly reception Craig wanted.   

Donations in his memory to Victoria College, University of Toronto, c/o the Alumni Office will be warmly received.