Just to let you know, Steve Crossin, Robert Myers, and I attended Craig's funeral on Friday. It was very well-attended as he has a large family and many friends and work colleagues. Obviously it was not a happy occasion for anyone, but nonetheless many of his family and friends shared their memories of Craig as part of the service. Many of the stories of Craig's non-Wikipedia life were new to us, but a common thread to so many of them were the same characteristics that we saw in him too, a deep sense of social justice, gentleness, wisdom, a love of learning, a sense of humour and a passion for Smashing Pumpkins, The Simpsons and Star Trek.
We gave his wife the photo and condolence book from the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin, as well as printouts of the messages of condolence on his User Talk page, and she was very appreciative of these, as she knew how much Wikipedia meant to Craig. She will be putting these things and other mementos aside to share with their baby when he is old enough to want to know more about his father. She also asked to pass on her thanks to the various messages of sympathy that she received from the Wikipedian community and for the photos of Craig that you forwarded to her; they are very precious to her now. Craig will be truly missed by many of us in Wikimedia Australia and the wider Wikimedia community. His life may have been cut short, but it was a life well-lived. There's probably a message to all of us in that. Kerry From: Kerry Raymond [mailto:kerry.raym...@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, 23 April 2018 7:46 PM To: 'Wikimedia-AU-Members' <wikimedia-au-members-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org> Cc: 'Australian Wikimedians mailing list' <wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org> Subject: RE: Sad news Craig's funeral will take place on Friday 27 April. As this list is accessible to the public, for reasons of privacy, please email me at kerry.raym...@wikimedia.org.au <mailto:kerry.raym...@wikimedia.org.au> if you want the full details. Kerry From: Kerry Raymond [mailto:kerry.raym...@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, 16 April 2018 6:28 PM To: 'Wikimedia-AU-Members' <wikimedia-au-members-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimedia-au-members-boun...@lists.wikimedia.org> > Cc: 'Australian Wikimedians mailing list' <wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org <mailto:wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org> > Subject: Sad news It is with great sadness that I share with you the news that Craig Franklin has died. Craig has been a member of Wikimedia Australia for many years during which time he has held various roles including President, Vice President, and Treasurer. He was active in outreach work here in South-East Queensland, in particular in forging the strong partnership between State Library of Queensland and WMAU. Craig was one of the first Wikipedians I ever met in person and he encouraged me to join Wikimedia Australia where he got me involved in outreach after my retirement. He served the cause of open knowledge as a Wikipedia contributor, an administrator, an oversighter, a member of the OTRS team, and most recently as an ombudsman. He always tried to be fair and kind to his fellow Wikipedians. They say only the good die young and that is tragically so for Craig. He was funny about the things that did not matter, sincere about the things that did, and an all-round decent Aussie bloke. The stars will shine a little brighter tonight as he is now among them. Pru Mitchell and I have arranged for flowers to be sent to his family expressing the condolences of Wikimedia Australia and the Australian Wikipedian community and expressing the high regard he was held in by our community. As this list is archived and accessible to the public, I will not include any personal details. However, if you wish to send personal condolences to his family, please contact me via email for contact details. Kerry
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