Gone too soon, but too weary to stay, Robert Paul Craft, formerly of Assumption, passed away on May 14, 2022, at the Athens-Limestone Hospital in Athens, Alabama, after a lengthy illness.

Graveside funeral services, with full military honors, will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, May 21, 2022 in Pleasant View Cemetery. The family will be receiving friends at the cemetery one hour prior to the service time. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Assumption American Legion Post #284 or Assumption VFW Post #6577 are suggested.

Bob was born April 24, 1950 in the Decatur & Macon County Hospital, Decatur, Illinois, the second child of Robert Frank and Patricia (Tankersley) Craft. The family moved to Alton, Illinois, where they lived until moving back to Assumption in 1961.

Bob graduated from Assumption High School in 1968. While attending he was a member of the original Chess Club, was awarded the Society for Academic Achievement Award, inducted into the National Honor Society, and was named a National Merit Scholarship Program Semifinalist. While in high school he was also granted membership in the prestigious Mensa Organization.

He attended Michigan State University until March 1969. When the first Vietnam Draft Lottery was conducted, he was assigned draft #2. Rather than wait to see if Uncle Sam would continue his college deferment, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, completed basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and shipped out to Southeast Asia where he served as a medic at the U.S. Army Rehabilitation Center in Danang and other locations in Vietnam. Returning from his overseas service, he left the military and enrolled at the University of Illinois in December 1972. He decided the military was an experience he enjoyed and reenlisted in the Army and continued his military service from December 1973 until September 1986, when he left the service as a Chief Warrant Officer.

Bob continued his education while in the military. He completed the U.S. Army Clinical Specialist Course and the licensure examination for a Licensed Practical Nurse in 1970. He completed the U.S. Army Baylor University Physician's Assistant program in 1977, earning an Associate's Degree in Science from Baylor University along the way. He also completed the U.S. Army Physician's Assistant Graduate Program in Orthopedics.

He earned the Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, and Combat Medic's Badge. His military assignments included Madigan Army Medical Center, Washington; Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri; Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt, Germany; and Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii.

After leaving the service in 1986, Bob moved to Athens, AL where he worked as a Physician's Assistant for an orthopedic surgeon until 2001. He went on to work for Wright Medical Supply, an orthopedic supply company in Huntsville and in 2013 began his final job as a medical coder in the billing department for Athens-Huntsville healthcare system, which he truly enjoyed.

Bob was a member of the National Mensa Organization, United States Chess Federation and the American Legion. He was an avid Crimson Tide fan, a voracious reader and staunch conservative.

Bob never married, but is survived by survived by a brother, James Craft of Sherman, IL; and three sisters - MaryBeth Pearson of Blairsville, GA; Jeanne (Ross) Malme of Atlanta, GA; and Cynthia Mueller of Naples, FL. He is also survived by two nieces, Amber Pearson and Shannon (Jordan) McBride; and two nephews Joshua (Ashlyn) Pearson, and Clinton Mueller.

He was preceded in death by his father, Robert Frank Craft; his mother, Patricia (Tankersley) Craft; a brother Gary Wayne Craft; and a great niece, Mary Kaylynn Pearson.