John T. Craig *50

John Craig, whose work involved foreign aid in a six-decade career with USAID and the State Department, died Feb. 3, 2018, of complications of Alzheimer’s disease at age 91.

Craig graduated from Oberlin College in 1948 and earned an MPA degree from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School in 1950. He worked on the Marshall Plan, which helped rebuild Europe, and lived for six years in France, Austria, and Yugoslavia.

Most of his career was spent as a program director or deputy director in hardship posts. He opened a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) office in Dahomey (now Benin) in 1961, and served for 20 more years in Somalia, Tunisia, Nepal, Haiti, and Guyana. All four of his sons were born abroad.

After contract work for USAID in Rwanda and again in Haiti, Craig joined the State Department’s archive-declassification program until his retirement in 2010. A resident of Washington, he enjoyed his season tickets to the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, and State Theatre. He moved to an assisted-living facility in 2015.

Craig was predeceased by his wife of 58 years, Ruth, in 2008. He is survived by four sons (including Thomas ’76), 11 grandchildren (including Michael ’11), and five great-grandchildren.

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