I was very sorry to see that Craig died and so young. We both played left offensive tackle for the Carleton football team in 1972 and 1973. I found an obituary from the Star that said Craig passed on his 46th birthday after a 2-y battle with cancer. I also learned a few weeks ago that Greg Johnson also a freshman in 1972 who played right offensive tackle for the team died in 2020. Greg's daughter is a Carleton alum.
Really sad at the loss of Craig so early in life. He was a great athlete and scholar, a roommate for a couple of years and the best buddy a guy could have. Laid back, great conversations, good beer chugger and a lot of memories of extracurricular activities. A good part of growing up at Carleton were the friendships, and his was a great one.
Craig Elmer was a product of an intense effort to recruit Austin (MN) High School students. He joined the Class of 76 with Greg Johnson as a member of Austin's highly successful program following just a year behind Ron Clark '75 and Steve Asp '76. (And, we were so fortunate to add Steve's sister Peggy Asp '77 only to lose her in a tragic accident in the fall of 1975.)
Craig was the son of a great St. Olaf athlete, Mo Elmer and his mother Lavonne was also very talented. The Elmer family were wonderful supporters of all of Craig's close friends and teammates.
Craig and I were part of the first International Organizations summer program led by Dr. Hartley Clark in the summer of 1975. He embraced the experience with a strong interest in both the structure that Hartley provided in the Foyer John Knox classroom, but also all the opportunities to meet the myriad of international students and UN-related residents. The Carls had so many great nights playing basketball, ping pong and volleyball, while talking geopolitics, rock & roll and travel while having a few Feldschlossen beers. Craig was the lynchpin of the group and made fast friends almost immediately.
Craig and I teamed up as the left tackle and left guard on the football team for two seasons. We did not need to talk much or call out plays. Except for one time - we were getting annihilated by St Olaf and I was not handling the abuse very well, getting into verbal and physical confrontations even though the game was out of reach.
For some inexplicable reason, Craig chose to make the only audible call we had as we approached the line of scrimmage. The call was to yell out the name of a city to block the play straight ahead - or if he shouted the name of a state, we would cross-block. Simple.
Of course, Craig decided to shout out "New York! New York!" to the amusement of everyone, including the Oles, except me. I fell into the trap and said "which one" and he smiled that amazing smile and said "it doesn't matter anymore..." My friend was looking out for me.
As the years went on, the bond remained through rugby matches, marriages, careers, kids and ultimately his illness. Craig used his Carleton education as he traveled all over Central and South America with an insatiable level of curiosity and warmth.
We lost him at a very young age. Although many years have passed, when members of the class of 76 gather to this day, we always find there is one more Elmo story to share.
Comments
I was very sorry to see that Craig died and so young. We both played left offensive tackle for the Carleton football team in 1972 and 1973. I found an obituary from the Star that said Craig passed on his 46th birthday after a 2-y battle with cancer. I also learned a few weeks ago that Greg Johnson also a freshman in 1972 who played right offensive tackle for the team died in 2020. Greg's daughter is a Carleton alum.
Really sad at the loss of Craig so early in life. He was a great athlete and scholar, a roommate for a couple of years and the best buddy a guy could have. Laid back, great conversations, good beer chugger and a lot of memories of extracurricular activities. A good part of growing up at Carleton were the friendships, and his was a great one.
Craig Elmer was a product of an intense effort to recruit Austin (MN) High School students. He joined the Class of 76 with Greg Johnson as a member of Austin's highly successful program following just a year behind Ron Clark '75 and Steve Asp '76. (And, we were so fortunate to add Steve's sister Peggy Asp '77 only to lose her in a tragic accident in the fall of 1975.)
Craig was the son of a great St. Olaf athlete, Mo Elmer and his mother Lavonne was also very talented. The Elmer family were wonderful supporters of all of Craig's close friends and teammates.
Craig and I were part of the first International Organizations summer program led by Dr. Hartley Clark in the summer of 1975. He embraced the experience with a strong interest in both the structure that Hartley provided in the Foyer John Knox classroom, but also all the opportunities to meet the myriad of international students and UN-related residents. The Carls had so many great nights playing basketball, ping pong and volleyball, while talking geopolitics, rock & roll and travel while having a few Feldschlossen beers. Craig was the lynchpin of the group and made fast friends almost immediately.
Craig and I teamed up as the left tackle and left guard on the football team for two seasons. We did not need to talk much or call out plays. Except for one time - we were getting annihilated by St Olaf and I was not handling the abuse very well, getting into verbal and physical confrontations even though the game was out of reach.
For some inexplicable reason, Craig chose to make the only audible call we had as we approached the line of scrimmage. The call was to yell out the name of a city to block the play straight ahead - or if he shouted the name of a state, we would cross-block. Simple.
Of course, Craig decided to shout out "New York! New York!" to the amusement of everyone, including the Oles, except me. I fell into the trap and said "which one" and he smiled that amazing smile and said "it doesn't matter anymore..." My friend was looking out for me.
As the years went on, the bond remained through rugby matches, marriages, careers, kids and ultimately his illness. Craig used his Carleton education as he traveled all over Central and South America with an insatiable level of curiosity and warmth.
We lost him at a very young age. Although many years have passed, when members of the class of 76 gather to this day, we always find there is one more Elmo story to share.
With you, Craig