Captain David Meade Criley died at age 88 on August 8, 2022, of Pancreatic Cancer. He was at home under Hospice care surrounded by his wife and family members. David was preceded in death by their beloved 10-year-old son David; his brother Walter and sister Jean; parents Marjorie and Walter; beloved aunts and uncles.
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He is survived by Kay, his wife of 49 years, who loved and adored him; nephews Chris, Tim and Matt McGuire; niece Mamie Criley Vander Meer; brother-in-law Clarke (Glenda) Campbell; sister-in-law Nancy Rude; niece Laurie (Rude)and husband Rick Gustafson; nephew Kevin Rude; stepsister-in-law Dayle (Devon) Mixer; stepbrother-in-law Ken (Carol) Selby; many step nieces and nephews; cousins Martha Hurley, Becky Reed, Sarah Seta and David Hill; two Godsons, Nick Roby and David Osborn; and Goddaughter Katie Quam.
Dave was born July 10, 1934, in Rochester, NY, son of Marjorie and Walter Criley. His father worked for the Rochester Telephone Company and taught Electrical Engineering at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The family moved to Nashville, TN, in 1947, when his father accepted a job as Professor of Electrical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. He was graduated from the University School of Nashville and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with a B.S. in Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine.
Captain Criley began his flying career commissioning into the United States Navy as an Officer Candidate at Naval Air Station Pensacola, graduating as an Ensign in 1956. After certifying on the Navy’s Grumman S2F fixed-wing antisubmarine aircraft, he served on the USS Princeton and USS Yorktown during the Cold War in the Pacific Area of Responsibility, flying off both straight and angled decks respectively. After sea duty, being a seasoned S2F pilot with two carrier deployments and 2000 hours in the S2F, he was assigned to the Replacement Training Squadron as an Instructor Pilot to train and transition the next generation of antisubmarine pilots and crews.
When asked by his Commanding Officer why, after eight honorable years of service with the Navy, Officer Criley wished to leave the Navy, he said “because there are no women here!” And so; Dave hired on with Pan American Airlines in July of 1964 as a Flight Engineer on the Boeing 707, later to make Captain and fly both the 707 and 747, as well as the Lockheed 1011, until Pan American closed its doors in 1991. With 3 more years of eligibility left to fly, he took a job flying Captain on the 747’s for Connie Kalitta’s Charter Airline out of Ypsilanti, Ml, to the Middle East.
A young, now 63-year-old, pilot friend of Dave’s, who considered him a mentor, wrote of Dave in his recent weekly column for General Aviation News that “Perhaps my proudest moment with Dave was when I was able to arrange a flight for him aboard a powered parachute. Dave climbed in with the excitement of a small boy, hooting and hollering in his quiet way. From the lightest, least capable flying machines to his regular ride that took off weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds, Dave loved it all…He was the aeronautical equivalent of Elvis as far as I was concerned. He still is, I guess.”
In his.younger years, Dave loved hiking, skiing, biking, jogging golfing, tennis – and a former TWA Flight-Attendant named Kay Campbell, who became the love of his life. They were married in 1973 and settled in Sausalito, California. Although enjoying many a memorable international trip, they enjoyed spending time with family locally and in Michigan, Illinois, Tennessee and Iowa, as well as relaxing with friends around the dinner table. Another friend said that as a life-long learner, David was always reading and had a wealth of information.
Give him 5 minutes of your time, and you’ll be there for an hour, gaining a life-long advocate and friend. He cherished his family and friends, and they cherished him. We miss you Captain Criley!!
A graveside service will be held on October 1 at Oak Grove Cemetery in Coldwater, Michigan.
A Celebration of Life was held at 2:00 pm on Friday, October 28, 2022 at Christ Episcopal Church in Sausalito, 70 Santa Rosa Avenue, with a reception immediately following in Campbell Hall. For those who wish, memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or a charity of your choosing.