James Craw

Wednesday, November 18, 2020 12:07 am

James Warren Craw, age 80, went to be with his Lord on Sunday, Nov. 8, at the Gundersen Hospital in La Crosse following a stroke he suffered during the summer and complications from gallbladder infection.

He was born in Springfield, Illinois Nov. 7, 1940, and grew up in Shopiere, WI .  He attended Clinton, WI schools and the University of Wisconsin, Platteville, where he majored in mining engineering.  He was nominated for Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities and was the president of the student chapter of the American Institute of Mining Engineers.

 Upon graduation he enlisted in the Naval Officer Candidate School, Newport, Rhode Island, followed by supply corps school in Athens, GA.  He was supply officer aboard the U.S.S. Tulare out of San Diego supporting the Viet Nam war effort, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Senior Grade. After discharge in 1966, he became employed by the DuPont Company as an explosives engineer, and moved to the Iron Range of northern Minnesota to distribute explosives to the iron ore mines.  In Hibbing, MN he met the love of his life Barbara Lind, and they were married June 14, 1969.  They were transferred by DuPont to Des Moines and then to the explosives research lab in Pompton Lakes, NJ, where he was the named research engineer on three patents involving blasting caps and liquid gel explosives.  From New Jersey they were transferred to Dallas, TX, and then traveled to Decorah, IA, to purchase their first farm in Pleasant Township to start dairy farming March 28, 1975.  Many happy trips were made to put together a dairy herd and buy farm equipment.  He loved farm equipment auctions and would buy and repair machinery for sale, and then tried his hand at an erosion control business for which he traveled around the state to construction sites.  He and Barbara created a tax accounting business starting in 1982 that continues to this day.  He always enjoyed visiting with clients during tax season.  Another of his joys was traveling around the country with the family in the old conversion van and camping equipment, especially to Rocky Mountain states.  He loved Jesus, his family, his friends, the farm, the cabin, and his Border Collie, Gnipper.

He is survived by his wife Barbara, his four children Daniel (Elizabeth M), Bonnie (Danny) Kosloski, John (Joanna), Elizabeth (Eric) Siemens, seven grandchildren, Abby, Isaac, Matthew Craw, Olivia Kosloski, Abram, Samuel, and Lucas Siemens, sister Marilyn (Jim) Potts, brother-in-law Joseph Gobolos, sister-in-law Sharon Lind, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Jim was preceded in death by his parents, James Jr. and Elmina Craw, his sisters Virginia Sparks and Marjorie Gobolos, brother-in-law Bill Sparks, father- and mother-in-law Roger and Sigrid Lind, and brother-in-law Thomas Lind.

There will be a small family memorial service due to covid restrictions. His wishes were to have his ashes taken to the lake, where there were so many fish and so little time.  He will be missed.