Craig Ernest Allen

Craig Ernest Allen, 75, of Hooper, Utah, passed away peacefully at home on September 12, 2026, surrounded by his family.

Craig was born December 13, 1950, on March Air Force Base near Riverside, California, the son of Thomas H. and Wilma Allen (née Sorrell). Born into a military family, he spent portions of his childhood everywhere from Oklahoma and Illinois to Turkey and Libya. But Tennessee remained the place of family roots — summer visits, cousins beneath a tin roof, exploring from morning until dark, and people and places that always felt like home.

He graduated from Del City High School and followed the family tradition into the United States Air Force, serving 23 years as an officer before retiring in 1995. His career took him through the Strategic Air Command community, beginning with missile operations and maintenance at McConnell Air Force Base near Wichita, Kansas — demanding work maintaining America's strategic missile systems, including his part in the response to a serious missile-fuel incident — and later into logistics supporting the nation's missile forces. After his military service, he held executive positions with TRW and Northrop Grumman until retiring for good in 2012.

In 1971 he married Carma Scheafer (née Thompson), and together they had two children, Chad and Cassandra. He later married Connie Klocke in 1979, his devoted companion for the rest of his life. In his post-retirement years Craig and Connie enjoyed traveling the world with close friends.

Those acquainted with Craig knew his remarkable mind. If he read something once, he simply knew it. At Command and General Staff College he tested beyond the reading instruction being offered; hand him a novel that would take anyone else a week, and he'd finish it that afternoon. Even as his health declined, his mind stayed sharp — he remained present, engaged, and unmistakably himself. To his family, he wasn't merely intelligent. He was Craig-smart: the man whose mind seemed always to be running a few pages ahead of everyone around him.

A committed military man and avid horseman, Craig volunteered for many years with the Air Force Association and the Back Country Horsemen of America/Utah, organizations dear to his heart.

Craig is survived by his wife, Connie; his brother, Danny (Denise); his children, Chad (Alyssa) Allen and Cassandra; grandchildren Hunter Moe, Aslan Contreras, Lucas Allen, Alandra Gonzalez, and Claire Allen. He was preceded in death by his parents.

In lieu of flowers, send donations to the Back Country Horsemen of America, https://www.bcha.org/.