Obituary for Ed Craver

C. Edward (Ed) Craver died peacefully on June 10, 2024 in Anchorage. He was 83. 

Ed was the oldest child of Claude and Lucille Craver, born on December 16, 1940 in Centerville, Iowa. He grew up in Exline, Iowa, which had a population of 400. Ed enjoyed hunting quail, pheasants, and squirrels with his father and friends. He raised sheep and chickens on his grandparents’ small farm. He adopted two crows, Homer and Jethro, who would fly over his head when he rode his bike.

After high school, Ed moved to Chicago to work for Burlington Northern Railroad part time while he attended the University of Iowa, where he received a BA in English and a MA in American Studies. In 1966 he taught English at Centerville Community College and started a remedial reading program for football players. He served as a medic in the Iowa National Guard 1966-7. In Centerville, Iowa Ed married Susan Oehler and they had two children: Amy Jill and Christopher Francis. In 1972 Ed moved the family to Talkeetna, Alaska and homesteaded along the banks of the Susitna River.

Ed taught part time at Anchorage and Mat Su Community College in the 1970s and worked full time as a farmer, gardener, and dog musher. In 1980 Ed ran the Iditarod with his Greenland Eskimo sled dogs whose bloodline was derived from a line of dogs owned by Willow musher Earl Norris.

Ed loved his Talkeetna homestead. In 2013 he won the Grand Prize for the Anchorage Daily News 31st Annual Creative Writing Contest with a piece about an island on his property that disappeared when the river changed course.  Ed’s hobbies and interests included farming, dog mushing, reading, writing, storytelling, listening to classical music and opera, and sharing his extensive knowledge of gardens and flowers with locals and visitors. He took great joy in entertaining friends at the Craver Farm.

Ed lived a full life on his own terms. His children are grateful that he brought them to Talkeetna and introduced them to values associated with living on a family farm in a small Alaska town. The Talkeetna Roadhouse and its late owners Carroll and Verna Close had a special place in his heart along with the other old-time residents of Talkeetna.

Ed is survived by his siblings Carol Fern Rio (Scottsdate, AZ) and Beverly Irene Fowler (Amherst, MA), children Amy and Chris and former wife Susan Forsling as well as his remaining close friends in Talkeetna, Alaska, and Hawaii.

Per Ed’s request his ashes will be scattered over his beloved peonies at the Craver Farm in Talkeetna.