Craig Lee Ottesen, age 54, passed away suddenly on August 14, 2009. Craig was born on August 19, 1954 in Greeley, Colorado to Richard Lee and Elberta (Abbett) Ottesen. Growing up in Greeley, he participated in Boy Scouts, where he acquired many creative talents for woodworking, costume making, painting, and other crafts. When the family moved to Hereford, he joined the First United Methodist Church in Hereford. During high school, he was an member of the Hereford High School Band and worked for the local gas station where he earned the money to buy his prized ‘65 Mustang. He graduated from Hereford High in 1972. Craig took his learned talents with him to Texas A&M, where from 1972 to 1976, he was a drummer in Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band and majored in electrical engineering. When Craig began to march with the bass drum in 1974, he began a new tradition at A&M by hand painting the bugle banner on both sides of the heads of all three bass drums. Craig retired for Texas Instruments in 2005 after twenty-seven years of service. Starting at the plant in Stafford, Texas, he worked in security, and then moved into fire safety and ultimately become a safety manager at corporate headquarters in Richardson. From 1998 to 2005, Craig worked for and with SEMATECH as a contributor and a technical writer, participating in the formation of global safety and environmental standards for the semiconductor industry. Craig become active in dog sports in 1995. He traveled to Australia to learn, observe and import foundation stock to Texas. Since retiring, Craig has been an active member of the North Central Texas Herding Dog Association, and participated in American Kennel Club events. He showed regularly and co-owned a number of Border Collies under the prefix “Bluechip”. He enjoyed being outdoors with the dogs. reading a good sci-fi or mystery book, listening to the radio, and figuring out what made things tick. He is survived by his long time love, Barbara Palmer of Princeton, Texas; sister Christie Carrigan and her husband Pat of Robinson, Texas; two nieces, Chelsey and Michelle Carrigan; and numerous other loving relatives and friends. Memorial gifts may be made to the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band, Texas A & M University, 3153 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843-3153, or the Hereford Whiteface Band, c/o Hereford High School, 601 N. 25 Mile Ave., Hereford, TX, 79045.