Eulogy for Our Friend, Craig McMullin

Good afternoon My name is Orestes Baez, Most of you know me as OB. I am CEO and President of the Pennysaver Group in Maryland.  Today I am here for Craig Stephen McMullin as the proud President of the Association of Free Community Papers for which Craig served as Executive Director. I am here to celebrate his life on behalf of my wife Angela, who couldn’t be here with me and my children CJ and Alynah and all the past, present and future members of the free community paper association represented by AFCP. 

Craig is my friend.  He was born in Iowa and passed suddenly on August 6, 2009 doing something he loved.  We should all be so lucky. His transition to a better life, to a calling only he could answer was abrupt for us but right on time for whatever God had in his plans.  To Gene and Joanne, Craig’s parents, my heart goes out to you.  The loss of a son is a deep and emotional event matched by few other life experiences.    My words will do little justice to the thoughts and feelings in your heart but I hope today’s event will in a small way will help you see and appreciate the love so many have for your son.  I believe we are a product of our experiences and you should be very proud of Craig, your experiences with him did a wonderful job creating the man.  To you, his brothers and other family members, I hope you see Craig as a positive part of your life and I am truly sorry for your loss.  Our hearts go out to you all.

Marilyn, dear Marilyn. Craig was your husband.  While you were both off on to new chapters of your life, your past together is inescapable and cannot be erased.  For the time you had together, you have many memories and smiles and heartache.  Life and relationships are like that as we are here re-learning today.  You and Craig created two wonderful children in Meagan and Matt.  They will carry your legacy with them. Professionally, you helped build an association with Craig that is everything Craig hoped to accomplish- and from where I sat it appeared it was important to you as well.  Thank you. I hope at times, in the quiet moments we are alone with our thoughts, you remember the joy and the smiles Craig the man gave you.  Forgive his shortcomings, laugh at his foibles, smile at his stubbornness.  Be there for Megan and Matt, be there for them from your place in life as a parent and with the spirit of Craig, I know he will watch over all of you. Marilyn, I am so sorry for your loss, too.

Meagan and Matt, Life happens and causes you to grow-up even more so in the last 30 days. In all the conversations we have had in the past month, it is clear you have so much love for your dad- yet it is so hard to grasp the whys and what ifs of the circumstances for which we are here today.  Spend little time on that. Focus your energies on the good stuff. 

Craig’s life was spent between CFO of a major newspaper to publisher and president of a newspaper chain, small-town publisher and major association executive. He became my friend through our time together on the BOD in AFCP.  I cannot speak of him in the ways many of you can, but I will try.

 10 years ago this chubby Midwestern guy pitched the BOD of AFCP a plan to help manage and grow our trade association out from where it was floundering to the great blue yonder- and boy did we ever soar, sometimes like eagles, sometimes like penguins.  He was a publisher, bright, articulate and was all about the future.  He was sort of an editor, a teacher and a writer and taught himself many new and exciting things only geeks could love.  He wanted our association to move, to grow, to be more and more. He never let go of that-and he never let us forget we needed to remember it as well.  During his tenure:

• he helped us create a conference that is the cornerstone of the industry and the gem which helps free papers shine bright even in the darkest days of today;
• He helped us build a teaching focus in The Learning Institute, TLI as we know it.  A real world program to help sow the seeds of growth and future by teaching our employees how to be successful in our industry so our papers would stand long after we had passed the reigns to others. This programs is taught by folks in our industry, others who, like Craig,  have a passion for our future;
• He helped increase the membership of AFCP to over 3000 banners;
• He helped found the PaperChain, a group of Executive Directors of State and Regional associations who want to provide a single source  to media buyers and agencies so our papers can receive the financial benefits this credibility brings;
• He made sure we audited our circulation so no one could question our authenticity;
• He helped triple the participation in NANI, our national network of classified ads that provides funds for publishers and helps provide financial resources for the elements in our conferences;
• He helped focus us on a web and digital business strategy so we could compete with the big boys;
• He helped form a not-for-profit foundation, Our Kids Can Read, so businesses could help a child-oriented educational publication called Kidsville through grants and tax deductible donations, thereby supporting literacy while in turn supporting the print publication industry;
• He always wanted the business of free community papers to grow and progress and he also needed to develop a key set of skills as Executive Director- namely managing Presidents:
  • The ability to manage Bill Welsh which even Ruby admits borders on impossible;
  • To get Danny off the golf course long enough to get on a conference call;
  • To let Bob Barrington suggest for the 37^th time South Padre Island as a destination for a conference and still make Bob feel like his suggestion actually had a chance;
  • The skill to limit board meetings to hotels without hot tubs so we would not have to fish Kendall out of one every morning;
• But there were other legendary moments:
  • The bidding and review process where he won the job as ED- who knew it would be a cornerstone moment;
  • The infamous San Diego meeting where a bottle of really good scotch later, we figured out how to keep AFCP & NANI alive and create a financial resource for the association;
  • The post-Chicago meeting where we understood we needed to make the Phoenix conference a real event or we were done -and then the post-Phoenix elation of knowing we were on to something really good;
  • The track at Daytona, the tables in Vegas, the long money putt at Doral, the parade in New Orleans, the post-9/11 board meeting in NY to give back to the city and it’s suffering and to let everybody know as a country we were not down or out, the windy house boat escapade, the coldest damn board meeting in the unlikely city of Key West, Florida, the fishing on Dick’s boat, the fires of Myrtle Beach, the lawn party in Palm Springs and on and on;
  • How about his new found interest in learning to sail or the Craig concept of if you eat, you eat desert too;
  • Or his taking dance lessons, though one has hard time not thinking of Craig dancing as the equivalent of Jerry Springer on Dancing with the Stars;
  • Craig also help form and support the Black Sheep- a rag tag bunch of free paper folk who were biker wanna-bees,  loved to ride and did so together on several legendary tours around the country.  They forged great relationships, had wonderful experiences and took turns listening to Bill Bowman talk the leg off a hobby horse together. Boy, Craig loved to ride.
  • How about the goofy grin with glassy eyes and top lip sticking out when we were done for the night but still enjoying one more for the road;
  • And the smile…. The ever present smile;
  • About 6 months into my term as President of AFCP, I had a conversation with Craig because I felt I was not doing the job justice -I was not adding any value to the association as the sitting President.  Unbeknownst to anyone, I was considering resigning, not wanting to sit in the chair only because it was my turn.  I wanted to help, to shape the future, to be of service- I had no ego attached to the title.  I had spent my life growing up in the free paper industry and did not want to cruise through my tenure.  Apparently in the “careful what you wish for category”, little did I know Craig had REALLY big plans for me.  Craig and I talked about what I could do several times.   He eventually suggested I focus my efforts on making sure everyone follow through on their committee assignments and conference calls.  It seemed so trivial, so small a task.  Little did I know he had given me the hardest job- comparable to herding cats and stacking jello.  He was one crafty smart cookie- he knew the challenge would keep me engaged;
  • How about the wonderful job the AFCP office performed under his leadership. Bonnie, Ana, Evelyn, Brianne and all the folks who have helped.  Craig nurtured and helped and coached and supported.  He built a great team, a great process, a great future.  They probably knew him as well as anybody.  I just want to say to Bonnie, Ana and Evelyn that AFCP is deeply appreciative of the job you have performed during this most difficult of times.  There is nothing you could have done better and Craig is smiling down on you and watching over you;

…AFCP will continue to exist and prosper under the umbrella Craig helped create.  I asked the BOD for a unanimous decision to donate to OKCR, the Board agreed and we have donated $2,500 for Craig’s cause.  In September, when the Board meets to begin the process of appointing a new ED, I will also ask that our Distinguished Service Award, an annual recognition of an individual who through their work and volunteerism has contributed magically and wonderfully to the Free Paper Industry be renamed the Craig S. McMullin Distinguished Service Award. At AFCP, we will replace the Executive Director’s position, but we will never replace the man.

I have two things to share before I go and they are specially crafted for Matt and Megan. In the days after Craig’s passing, I was chartered with visiting the AFCP office and helping all of us keep going.  I could barely bring myself to be in Craig’s office, but in one of Craig’s drawers I found a note Matt had written to Craig and Craig had saved. It’s message is meaningful to all, so with Matt’s permission I will share it with you today:

Dad, I won’t get to see for awhile so I thought I’d write you a note. By the time you read this I’ll be sleeping and you’ll be about ready to hit the road.  First, I will miss you very much while you’re gone. This house is much different when you are gone.  A week is a long time, I wish I could come with you.  I hope I’ll get to talk to you over the phone a lot and I hope the time goes quickly.  I wanted to tell you this for awhile and I tried a couple of times tonight but the right words just didn’t come out. All I ever got out was “I’m going to miss you” which wasn’t in much detail at all.  I think you thought that I’d miss you because I wouldn’t have anyone to ask money from- that wasn’t why I was going to miss you a lot. As a matter of fact, I’ll stop asking for money completely if you want me to- and I mean that.  The reason why I say that is you give things that are much more important than money. You give me stuff that money cannot buy and that’s a luxury that many Boys (and girls) my age don’t have. You are always happy to see me when you get home, I know I can tell you anything when I have a problem, you like to do stuff with me (which not many people like to do at all), and when I come to you to talk you are never too busy like some Dads are. You always make time even if you are really  busy, also you have a good answer or good advice to give me every time! See money can’t buy any of that stuff and those things are the most important to me.  You truly are the most important person to me, you also are the best Dad in the world.  I’m convinced about that. I guess, well, I want to tell you thanks for everything you’ve done for me all my life.  There is just one more thing I want to say…when I’m a Dad I want to be just like you. I love you, Matt.

Megan, I lost my dad many years ago to cancer and a very dear father of a friend of mine took the time to write something for me to help ease my pain and give me perspective- now I gift it to you…it goes like this:

My Beloved Megan:

Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room.  Nothing has happened.  Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged.  Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.  Call me by the old familiar name.  Speak of me in the easy way which you always used to.  Put no difference into your tone.  Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.  Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.  Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it.  Life means all that it ever meant.  It is the same as it ever was.  There is no absolute and unbroken continuity.  What is death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner.  All is well, all is well.

I love you, Dad.

In the bible, it is said death of the flesh is not the end of life, but the beginning of eternal life. As Jesus said in [John 12:24] , when a seed of the wheat plant falls off and dies, it is only then that it as a seed can be watered and be caused to sprout with a new life. This flesh must likewise die before we can live anew in our eternal spiritual body, in the eternity of Heaven. So be it for Craig.

Craig, we love you, we miss you- check in on us from time to time and make sure we are on the right path.  Rest in peace, my friend.