Redmon Paul Craig, Jr

Our beloved Redmon Paul Craig, Jr, (86) passed away peacefully on February 20, 2025, surrounded by his family.

Paul was born on February 16, 1939, in the small town of Clinton, Arkansas to Flossie Margie (Goode) Craig and Redmon Paul Craig. He grew up in Cotton Plant, Tuckerman, and Harrisburg, Arkansas and Mayfield, Kentucky. In 1955, he helped his father and grandfather build a house in Conway, Arkansas, where he lived while attending Conway High School. During his junior year, he fell ill and was ordered bed rest for a year, where he spent his days reading and developing a life-long love of literature before finishing high school in 1957.

Paul graduated from Hendrix College in Conway with a BA in Math and Physics in 1960 and headed to Columbia University in New York. In 1961, he transferred to Arkansas State Teachers College, where he met pretty Peggy Sue Felts in his first week. In 1962, he took a job in New Mexico, and Peggy traveled across the country by train so that they could be married in Grants, New Mexico in February 1962.

Later that year, they moved to Palo Alto, CA where Paul enrolled at Stanford University, graduating with a MS in Mechanical Engineering in 1964.

Paul landed a job at Garrett Corporation, and the young couple settled in Tempe, Arizona. They welcomed daughter Sabrina in 1967, and son Flint in 1969. Throughout the 1970s, Paul took his young family on camping trips from the White Mountains of Arizona to the unincorporated beaches of Mexico in his 1967 Travelall. In 1980, the couple divorced but remained good friends.

Later that year, Paul accepted a promotion at Garrett and moved to Los Angeles, kicking off a new chapter exploring the Southern California beaches and highways in his 1973 Mustang convertible. He and his best friend Barbara Daniels found love and married in a seaside ceremony in San Diego in 1989. Paul became a devoted stepfather to Barbara's daughters Laura and Linda, and doted on his dogs Fritz, Molly and especially Casey.

In a career that spanned five decades, Paul led multiple initiatives at Garrett Corporation, a venture team at Sundstrand Power Systems, and served in senior management positions for Honeywell. He served as president and CEO of Capstone Turbine, developer of a revolutionary microturbine generator. In 1998, he co-founded Pentadyne Power Corporation after securing an exclusive license to the flywheel technology intellectual property developed in the mid-1990s.

After retiring in 2004, he and Barbara set out in a custom motor coach to travel around the states, spending wonderful summers on the road from coast to coast.

Paul lost Barbara to Alzheimer's in 2021. Later that year, he was blessed to reconnect with an old friend, and a lunch with Florence Reichert led to love. Accompanied by bagpipes and joined by their extended families and friends, Paul and Florence were married in Chandler, AZ in 2024.

Paul will be remembered for the adventurous spirit that took him from rural Arkansas to destinations around the world, the easy charm and natural kindness that drew everyone into his circle, and the extraordinary generosity he offered to all who loved him.

Paul was preceded in death by his parents, and is survived by his wife Florence Reichert, sister Patsy LaFaye Lambert, children Sabrina Craig, Flint Craig, Laura Collins and Linda Garrow; sons in law Tim Garrow and Randy Baker; daughters in law May Santiago, Elizabeth Craig and Tonya Harris; grandchildren Flint E. Craig, Xochil Craig-Santiago, Solimar Craig, Paul Bernstein, Lea Davis, Korri Bernstein, Nate Garrow and Sarah Garrow; and multiple beloved nieces, nephews, great grandchildren and extended family.