Ruth and I were glad to live across the street from the Hoppes. We became new parents soon after we arrived in Clarence Center, and they made us feel welcome and offered neighborly assistance and advice whenever appropriate. The 70's and 80's were a special time for us, and we were saddened to learn of Craig's death. We were able to share the good times with them, and wish to share in the sad times as well. May God bless all of you. In hope and confidence, Jeff Hedin

I have so many happy memories of Craig! Playing 'Bird's Nest' in our back yard next to the swingset, telling stories together, rolling down the hill in the inner tube into the ditch by the side of the house, playing in the creek, many Halloweens, our canoe trip, playing soccer, ice skating in 'the gravel pit', catching snakes- and the one that chased us!, playing in the 'rock pile' behind Hoppe's house- and getting into trouble for lighting matches back there!, cave of the winds,and of course- The Adirondacks.

Craig's imagination was wonderful and amazing. I remember playing downstairs at our house. He and I would organize Danny, Julie, and Michael and ourselves to create short skits and 'plays' and tape record them. I still have the recordings from our productions! (Some wrestling matches where Craig was the Emcee, funny interviews, and one long murder mystery!) I remember playing in the Adirondacks in the two story fort by the lake. Again, Craig would create the scenario and we would all play it out -pirates, mysteries, wars....

Craig was a storyteller at heart. I remember the letters he wrote me while I lived in Scotland and when he was away living with Jane and her family. His quick wit would always make me smile. Whenever I would see him, whether he was feeling well or unwell, he would always make me laugh. That is what he did for everyone with his "Craig perspective" on life! He could make anything funny.

I know how lucky we are to have grown up with Craig as our neighbor and lifelong friend. Ask any Garrett and you will hear that Craig was our 5th brother. His laughter and joy will be remembered always.

Jean

Pam, Craig, Leila, and Family, I was so sorry to hear about Craig's passing. He was truly my fifth brother and an important part of the Garrett family. I'll remember most his smile and quick wit. He was also so well-read. He was always reading something interesting and often recommended books that I really enjoyed. When I was little, I remember trying to keep up with his soccer moves in the backyard (to no avail!). He was the neighborhood Pele! He really took on big brother duties when I was in high school and my mom would only let me go to a David Bowie concert if he went with my friends and me!!! He accepted the challenge and we a had a great time!! He'll be greatly missed and fondly remembered. Our thoughts and prayers are with each of you. Love, Julie and Family

Our Family Friend, Backyard Neighbor and my life long Best Friend Craig died last week (See his obituary in the Buffalo News). Thankfully, we all have many great memories of the Hoppe Family and Craig. In our early years in Clarence Center, we used to play every childhood game you can think of - hide & seek, parachute off the picnic table, investigating the cave of the winds, jump off the swing set, army, baseball, football, water fights, skate board, street hockey, boating down the creek, bike riding at the gravel pit, BB Guns, winter sledding, ice hockey on the pond and many more. I can't even count the number of sleep over's that we had at each others homes watching scary movies, playing games with each others families, watching family slide/movie shows, and just having fun!!! I truly believe he attended every Garrett Birthday Party that Mom and Dad ever had for the family (He is in every Garrett Birthday Picture). Although, I have to admit I also attended pretty much every Hoppe Birthday Party too! We traveled to all sorts of vacations and events with each others families. I even went to the week long Chautauqua Lake Lutheran Camp with him two years in a row. Craig followed this up by going with all of us to the Heath Camp in the Adirondacks more than a few times. The Hoppe Family were world travelers, taking summer trips all over the US, Europe and Asia. On these trips Craig would always send us post cards from the many cities they were visiting and bring souvenirs home for us. I used to love to go over to their house to watch the slide/movie shows of all our family events and their exotic trips. He was always a wealth of knowledge on world events, sports, movies, and he loved his music & books. We would listen to all genres of music together. He also read more books in a month than most people read in a year. He was well spoken and very intelligent. When Judy and I were married he was a groomsman in our wedding. Then Judy and I had Siobhan and he became Uncle Craig. Later, Jessica, Scott and Nora were born and they all knew him as Uncle Craig, too. Whenever we were in Clarence Center visiting our parents, Siobhan, Jessica, Scott and Nora would want to go over to visit Uncle Craig and the Hoppe Family. He always had fun with the children and knew how to make them laugh. They always wanted to play with Uncle Craig. One time the children pretended to set a card board box rabbit trap. They waited to catch a rabbit. Uncle Craig went over while they were eating lunch and put a stuffed rabbit from Grandma and Granddad Garrett's house in the trap. The children all thought it was a real rabbit that they had caught, until they pulled it out of the trap. Uncle Craig and all the children were rolling in the grass laughing about the trick. To this day, our children still remember how Uncle Craig tricked them on this one!! Another time that we always saw Uncle Craig was for the Clarence Center Labor Day Fair and Parade. Every year, Judy, my family and I would come back to Clarence Center to go to the Labor Day Fair, Demolition Derby and Parade. Craig would meet us at the Labor Day Fair to watch the kids enjoy the rides, see the demolition derby, and then enjoy the parade the next day with us. He definitely played "I Got It" and visited the beer tent with friends somewhere in-between. Everyone in our family always asked about and looked forward to seeing Uncle Craig at the Clarence Labor Day Fair. When he was well, he and I used to enjoy playing golf in Akron every Sunday morning and then have breakfast in the Clarence Hollow. We enjoyed each others company and had great conversations about family, work, music, books and sports. He was such an avid sports fan and we would get tickets to the Buffalo Bison's, Bills and his favorite the Sabres' Games. My brothers, Craig and I have great memories of all the sporting events we went to together. Even after he was ill, Craig was still a force in Clarence Center. He knew so many people in Clarence wherever he went; he enjoyed the people, conversations and excitement of the visits or events. We all love him and will miss his humor, intelligence and mostly his insightful heart to heart conversations that we had with him. We look forward to honoring his memory at his Memorial Service next week. Love, Brian, Judy, Siobhan, Jessica, Scott, and Nora Garrett