Obituary of Frank C. Craven

Frank Craven, owner of Artistic Dental Laboratory Frank C. Craven Jr. was a devoted family man and self-taught dental technician who owned Artistic Dental Laboratory in Cincinnati's Mount Lookout neighborhood for 40 years. Mr. Craven died Monday at his home in Walton. He was 69. Mr. Craven's career as a dental technician started early, as a boy, when he became interested in the work of a dentist who lived across the street. After graduating from Woodward High School in Bond Hill, he began work as a delivery boy at Dental Arts Lab in downtown Cincinnati. "He went on to learn to be a great ceramist in the dental field and did that for about 15 years," said his wife, W. Jeanette Peterson Craven. He then started his own lab, which is still going strong after 43 years. Outside of his lab work, from which he retired three years ago, Mr. Craven enjoyed casting lures from his fishing boat and taking his family - which included his mother, three sons and a daughter - out on Lake Cumberland in his pontoon boat. "He was just the most gentle, kind soul there ever was," his wife said, recalling his regular use of one-line jokes. "He was never unkind to anyone, not even with me after 47 years." Mrs. Craven said she learned to be careful about making wishes out loud. "I got to the point where I didn't say, 'Ooh, that's pretty, I love that,' because the next day, it would be sitting there," she said. In his later years, he and his wife wintered in North Fort Meyers, Fla., where he often played golf. Mr. Craven was a member of Nicholson Christian Church, Independence, and a 32nd Degree Mason. His wife said it had been an especially difficult week, since Mr. Craven's mother, Estella Angeline Schneider Craven, also died Monday, about three hours after her son. She was 94. Jeanette Craven attributed her mother-in-law's death to the loss of her son. "She just couldn't take the shock," Mrs. Craven said. "He was just so devoted." In addition to his wife, survivors include sons, "Toby" Frank C. Craven III, Donn C. Craven and Jeffrey A. Craven, all of Walton; a daughter, Karla K. Umberg of Union; nine grandchildren and a great-great-grandchild. Services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Chambers and Grubbs Funeral Home, Independence. Visitation will begin there at 10 a.m. Thursday. Burial will be in Floral Hills Cemetery, Taylor Mill.