Norman Herbert Craig

                            ~ ~ ~ 

Norman Herbert Craig, 88, of Amsterdam, died peacefully on Friday, Sept. 6, with his loving daughter Susan by his side after visits from family from afar and close to home. He will be missed most grievingly by his daughter Susan A. Craig and son-in-law Nicholas T. Sbordone and the light of his later years his granddaughter Elsiana Sabine Craig Sbordone, all of New York City.

Norm was born in Amsterdam on June 19, 1936 to Ethel Geneva Millington Craig, originally from Riparius, and Harold J. Craig, originally from Rensselaer Falls. He is predeceased by his adoring wife of 53 years Roberta Ann Burns Craig (2020), his son Roger Alan Craig (2007), his brother Harlan Dexter Craig (2013), a sister Naomi Florence Craig (1936), and twin sisters Priscilla and Pauline (1933). 

He was a graduate of Wilbur H. Lynch Senior High School Class of '54, SUNY Cobleskill and Empire State College. Norm was an honorably discharged United States Army veteran after serving from 1954 to 1956 as an ambulance driver in Ft. Buchanan, San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the Korean War. During this time “Crash Craig” enjoyed driving many of the iconic cars of the Fifties. He also perfected his Jitterbug dancing and was a boxer in the Army. 

He married Roberta Burns of Schenectady on Sept. 23, 1967. His son Roger Alan Craig was born Sept. 29, 1968 and his daughter Susan Allison Craig Sbordone was born Sept. 30, 1971.

He supervised an unemployment insurance account examiner unit at the New York State Department of Labor until his retirement in 1996. 

Norm was a basketball coach to both his children, winning several championships and teaching many Amsterdam youth the fundamentals of the game. He also ran the United Methodist Church Youth Group with Carole Ruocco Varriale, chaperoning the group on a visit to the nation’s capital with his son Roger.

A lifelong athlete – there was a Norm Craig cheering section at the baseball games of his youth – he later starred in over-30 and over-40 softball, basketball and bowling  leagues. As a young man he golfed and caddied at the Arthur Carter Amsterdam Municipal Golf Course and after raising his children took up golf again, leading the scorecards in several leagues in the Amsterdam area and the Capital Region. With his daughter he visited Scotland for his 70th birthday, playing famed courses such as the Robert Trent Jones-designed Kinghorn as well as Dalmahoy Country Club, and visiting the Old Course at St. Andrews, considered the birthplace of golf. 

Well-read with a deep love of music – most especially Ray Charles – cars, baseball, and beer, Norm was a member of Bigelow Weavers Association, John J. Wyszomirski American Legion Post 701, and served on the Finance Committee of the Amsterdam United Methodist Church.

He was also a loyal pet owner, known to Amsterdamians for religiously walking his beloved Lucky, and then Snoopy, up and down Northampton Road until the latter’s passing in 2021. 

Friends are invited to visit with Norm's family on Friday, September 13, 2024  from 10 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Riley Mortuary, 110 Division St., Amsterdam, where his funeral home service will begin at noon. Interment with military honors will follow at Green Hill Cemetery, Amsterdam. Friends and family are encouraged to join the family in remembering and celebrating Norm from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Amsterdam Municipal Golf Course Banquet Room. 

Memorial contributions in lieu of flowers can be made to: The Resident Activities Fund at Wilkinson Residential Healthcare Facility, in care of: The Foundation of St. Mary’s Healthcare, 427 Guy Park Avenue, Amsterdam, NY, 12010; the United Methodist Committee on Relief / UMCOR US Disaster Response and Recovery online at umcmission.org/advance-project/901670/; or the Amsterdam Methodist Church, 347 Golf Course Road, Amsterdam, NY 12010.