Leon and Ollie Craig Foundation
Ollie and Leon met when both were living in Ranger, Texas and married in 1939. That same year, the couple moved to Three Rivers when Leon went to work with the local Edison Company. Upon arriving in town, Ollie and Leon stayed with the recently widowed Mary Barton on her North Fork ranch property. The Craigs ultimately acquired vast landholdings in the Case Mountain and Salt Creek areas of Kaweah Country and soon built a home on their "Craig Ranch", what is known today as Salt Creek Drive.
Leon and Ollie worked together on many successful ventures throughout their marriage: logging, ranching and real estate investments kept them going. But it was their mail order business, formed along with their friend Arnold Burnett, that was their “claim to fame”. This company received the U.S. Postal Service's computerized Permit Number 1, of which an envelope with this imprint was sent to the moon and back!
Leon was a quiet, gentle, generous and loving man. Around town he was known as a “big hearted cowboy.” He passed away in 1984, after celebrating 45 years of marriage. Ollie continued her philanthropic work around town which included helping to establish the Three Rivers Volunteer Ambulance, a local daycare, and the management of the Leon and Ollie Craig Foundation, which provides scholarships to students with financial need to assist in their college education. She was also a longtime member of the Three Rivers Woman's Club and a member of the Community Presbyterian Church and the former Lady Lions. In the years leading up to her death in 2005, Ollie donated some of her land to St. Anthony’s Retreat for a new youth facility to be built as well as many acres to the Bureau of Land Management.
Criteria: GPA 3.25, involved in school activities, (Band, Sports, Drama, Annual/Yearbook,), and plan on a four-year degree.
Selected By: Leon and Ollie Craig Foundation
