Craig W. Kilgore, 54, of Mesa, Arizona, went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday March 3, 2020, fighting valiantly his battle against recurring lung cancer. Beloved and devoted son, nephew, fiancée, uncle, cousin and friend to many.
He graduated from Mesa High School and Scottsdale Community College Culinary School. As a kitchen manager, chef and sous chef, his experiences were varied and broad spectrum. Craig’s thirty plus years began at Red Lobster, where he worked for 14 years, involving many facets of the culinary world, including many store openings in Arizona and other states.
He was employed at ASU for fifteen years, which included, feeding the football teams and coaching staff. A large undertaking as Chef for the football teams was the annual special training sessions at Camp Tontazona. Other duties included many caterings; one of the largest was at Grady Gammage Auditorium for the Presidential debates, which included a press corps of 4,500 people.
His additional employment background included Mellow Mushroom, The Thumb, West Alley Barbeque and four appearances on TV. One television stint was on a food channel, the other three were on national TV and local channels, 3, 10 and 12, demonstrating some of his culinary skills.
Craig is preceded in death by Father, Joseph and grandparents. He leaves behind his mother, Sue, Fiancé, Cheryl Champine, Uncle, Peter Dallas (New Hampshire), brother, Scott and wife, Stephanie, nieces, Kaylyn and Rhiannon and nephews, Logan and Aidan. Craig was loved and respected by all and touched many lives. He had many longtime cherished friends near and far and continued to add to his list as Craig knew no strangers.
A visitation service will be held for Craig on Friday March 13, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. followed by a funeral service at 2:00 p.m. at Mountain View Funeral Home and Cemetery, 7900 E. Main St. Mesa, AZ, 85207. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Craig’s name to the American Cancer Society.
Craig was such a great guy, we worked together for 10+years at ASU Athletics and stayed friends ever since. Condolences to all of his family.
I won’t be able to make the funeral service it is our last day of feeding students here at EAC. I will be there in Spirit.
These are difficult times, I will always remember Craig’s kindness and that special coolness, laidback demeanor which was contagious with anyone he came in contact with. I will miss “The Fonz”
May Craig rest in peace
Sue & family we were sad to hear about Craig. He was such a nice person and always had a kind word to say. We were hoping to attend the service but unfortunately we cant get away from work as we had hoped. Prayers to all the family. Bruce & Stephanie & employees of North Mesa Auto Service.
Thank you Kathy.
I am so glad you all got to know him 🙂
Thank you all so much!