Craig Ives Gilchrist, 86, of Burlington, Iowa, died on Dec. 17, 2022, at the Southeast Iowa Regional Hospice House in West Burlington.
Craig was born March 21, 1936, in Keosauqua, Iowa. He was the youngest of Gerald and Madeleine Manning Gilchrist’s three children. He was named for his maternal grandfather, Craig Ives Manning, the three-time mayor of Keosauqua.
His father Gerald died just a few days after Craig’s fifth birthday. Madeleine married Mark McCoy when Craig was ten years old, adding two stepbrothers and two stepsisters whom he thought of as his brothers and sisters.
Growing up in Keosauqua he loved to hunt, fish, and golf. He played third base for the baseball team and guard for the basketball team at Keosauqua High School. Because of his good outside shooting or poor eyesight (or a combination of the two) he earned the nickname “Deadeye.”
After graduating from Keosauqua High School in 1954, he spent one year studying at Northeast Missouri State (now Truman State) before setting off to San Diego with his friend (and later brother-in-law) Don Parish. While in San Diego he worked at the Convair airplane factory and got to travel up the road to watch the Iowa Hawkeyes win the 1957 Rose Bowl.
He returned to Iowa, served in the U.S. Army Reserves (and was honorably discharged), and began studying at the University of Iowa. He married Delores Sue Carruthers on Jan. 3, 1960, at the Christian Church in Keosauqua, Iowa. He graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Business Administration in 1962.
After graduating, he accepted a job with the Wage and Hour Division of the United States Department of Labor, where he would work for his entire career. He was initially assigned to the Kansas City office. Just a few years later he transferred to Burlington, Iowa where he worked as a compliance officer for 35 years, making sure that employees throughout Southeast Iowa were paid at least minimum wage and time and a half for overtime. He was a primary investigator in a case that led to one of the largest awards of back wages in United States history in an investigation of Iowa Beef Processors.
Craig and Sue became parents to Bradley in 1963, Michael in 1968, and Joan in 1971. Despite, or maybe because of, losing his father at a very young age, he was a loving and active father. While the kids were growing up he always made time for playing catch, golfing, fishing, watching games, and going to piano recitals, and band and choir concerts. He loved to make the family popcorn on the stove and malts and milkshakes in the blender.
He has five grandchildren Lauren and Kyle Joniak, Lane Pruisner, and Alexandra and Camryn Gilchrist. He loved attending their sporting events and dance recitals.
He was a longtime active member of the First Presbyterian Church in Burlington, Iowa. He was a deacon and elder, served on many committees, and was a longtime member of the church bowling team. Many of his best and longest friendships were with members of the church.
He was a member of Kiwanis, where he chaired the golf league for several years and helped with the Kiwanis Travelogue and Santa Project.
In his spare time, he enjoyed golfing (he had a hole-in-one at Spirit Hollow Golf Course in Burlington), fishing (as evidenced by the two largemouth bass mounted and hanging in the game room), playing cards (especially cribbage and bridge), watching sports, gardening, working jigsaw puzzles, and going to his Friday morning coffee group. He was a lifelong Chicago Cubs and Iowa Hawkeyes fan. He went to many Iowa football and basketball games, including three Rose Bowls, and he lived long enough to see and enjoy the Cubs winning the World Series.
Craig was a fun-loving, witty guy who never met a stranger, made everyone feel welcome, and never spoke ill of anyone. He was a treasured friend, dad, husband, grandfather, and uncle and he will be greatly missed by all.
Craig is preceded in death by his parents Madeleine Manning McCoy and Gerald Gilchrist, his stepfather Mark McCoy, his brother James Gilchrist, his sister and brother-in-law Joyce Ann and David Jack, his stepbrother and sister-in-law David and Leonora McCoy, his stepsister Roberta Parish, his brother-in-law and sister-in-law Eugene and Charlotte Overstreet, his brother-in-law Darrell Carruthers, his niece Gina Jack, and his nephew Rollie Overstreet.
Craig is survived by his wife Delores Sue Carruthers Gilchrist of Burlington, his children Bradley Gilchrist (Aaron Burmeister) of Iowa City, Michael Gilchrist (Debra King) of Norwalk, and Joan Pruisner (Dwight) of Norwalk; five grandchildren: Lauren Joniak, Kyle Joniak, of Norwalk; Lane Pruisner of Ankeny; Alexandra Gilchrist, Camryn Gilchrist of Norwalk; his stepsister Barbara (Larry) Burkett of West Des Moines; his stepbrother Hugh (Rita) McCoy of Peoria, Arizona; brothers-in-law Don Parish of Colo; Dick Carruthers of Rancho Mirage, Calif.; Steve (Nedra) Carruthers of Lee’s Summit, Mo.; Fred (Korkee) Carruthers of Mediapolis; Dan (Paula) Carruthers of Santa Clarita, Calif.; and sisters-in-law Ann Gilchrist (Jack Uhlenhopp) of Hinsdale, Ill.; Deb Kirchner of Keosauqua; and Dixie Carruthers of San Diego, Calif.; and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be at Lunning Funeral Chapel in Burlington on Tuesday, Dec. 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. Funeral services will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Burlington on Wednesday, Dec. 21 at 11 a.m. followed by a luncheon. Burial will be at Fellows Cemetery, Keosauqua. Memorials have been established for the First Presbyterian Church (organ restoration fund) or the Southeast Iowa Regional Hospice.