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Rod was born on November 12 1940 in Ogden. He graduated from Weber High School in 1959. Served an LDS Mission in the East Central States Mission. Married his high school sweetheart, Mary Beth Hull, on December 20th 1962 in the Logan Temple. Finished his education by gratuating from Utah State University and the Washington Dental School. Served in Vietnam with the 257th Dental Unit from 1969 to 1970. He was an avid supporter of the Boy Scouts and served on many councils and was honored for his service by being awarded the Silver Beaver. He loved his family and truly loved spending time with them. He and Mary Beth had 5 children, Shane, Jennifer, Dustin, Rhett, and Trent, and many grandchildren. Some of their adventures included, boating,golfing, horseback riding, skiing, and just playing. He loved his Church and devoted many hours of service to his Father in Heaven. He held various positions. He truly loved working with the youth and young adults. He loved his Dental practice, his patients recieved the upmost professional service. Rod loved his office staff and all those he worked with. Rod was a friend to all. He walked tall among those he served. A great life cut too short. We will all miss him at our reunion.
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Butch Rhees
Rod:We were best friends from the time we were small children until the day you parted this earthly stay. We played, worked, dated, explored, learned, argued, traveled, got into and out of trouble and many more things side by side. We went to school together from the first grade through several years of college. I could not have had a better friend, companion, and 1st cousin. You were the best, and I have missed you so many times since your transfer to a better place. A few years ago, Nathan Hull knocked on the door to my office at BYU. I opened the door and invited him in, but I did not know who he was. The first thing he said, was do you know Rod Cragun. I turned and pointed to the picture on the wall of a picture of the two of us together when we were about four years old, but I could not speak, the tears rolled down my face and Nathan just waited for a few minutes. He explained that he was Dale Hull’s son, Rod's nephew.
Rod accomplished many things during his life. I can only give a brief review. Rod grew up in Pleasant View on a large fruit farm. He learned how to work hard from a young age and could back two fruit trailers better than anyone. He spend his summer working on the farm, playing ball, riding horses and a few cows. He went to North Ogden Elementary, Walquist Jr. High and you all knew him from his years at Weber High School. Rod was friendly with everyone, at school or anywhere else. He never met a person he didn’t enjoy talking to, he had a gift in interacting with others. He always had a friendly personality. He played football and give it 100%, he was not afraid of anything or anyone. There were a few times we got someone mad at one of our pranks. I remember one night having a car load of Ogden High football players mad at us and we headed for Rod's orchards in Pleasant View. They followed us all the way from Ogden to Pleasant View. We entered the orchards in the dark and turned off the lights on the car. Rod knew the orchards like the back of his hand and we lost them in a few minutes because they could not follow us in the dark orchard. We took some chickens and a turkey one night from a farm in North Ogden. One of our mothers cooked them and we had a party with our dates. Rod started dating at the age of 14, however, it wasn’t long before he met Mary Beth Hull. It was a storybook life for Rod and Mary Beth, dating, mission, dental school, family, army, and then his dental practice in North Ogden. Rod served as a Bishop and then in the Stake Presidency while they lived in California. Rod was a great father and friend to young people. He lived a full but short life. But he accomplished most of his goals in life. He enjoyed his family, dental practice, his horses, trips, and being a friend. He had a heavy foot when it came to driving. There was a time when we were in High School and I had to drive his car because he had lost his licence. One of his kids indicated that had not changed even when he was fifty years old.
Rod Cragun was a wonderful person, husband, father, Bishop, dentist, and friend. I for one will miss him when we meet for the High School reunion. Rod I loved you like a brother. You were the best friend a person could ask for. We will be friends again. I hope when we are friends again there are still horses, golf courses, and mountains to be climbed. Thanks for being my friend. From your friend and cousin. Butch Rhees
Marilyn Jones (Thornley)
Rod was my very favorite cousin. We were childhood playmates and best friends. We had cousins by the dozens in Pleasant View. Where ever you looked they were all around. We all played together almost every day. We worked in the fruit orchards in the summer time. We had our own language. It was'nt pig latin, it was our very own. We climbed trees, ate the fruit and got sick to our stomachs. We had so much fun. I went to see Rod when he was very sick. He was still funny, He had a tape recorder hanging around his neck. I ask him what it was there for, and he told me he could'nt remember things. So when thought of something he wanted to remember he would just recorded it. I thought that was a real good idea. Rod stayed busy in those last days. He was having the house remodeld for MaryBeth. He also put together a beautiful doll house that they had bought years ago, and he just kept putting it off. Well he decided he needed to get it done, and he did. I saw him just days before he died and he pointed to me and winked. I lost a good friend. I was so sad when he went. My cousin Norma Ray came and grabbed me before they got ready to close the casket and told me I needed to go whisper in his ear some endearment from our secret language. She said it was important. I don't know why, but I thought that was so dear that we all did that. I loved Rod and I miss him. He was a valiant Son. I know I will see him again someday and he will point at me and wink, I love you my dear cousin, Forver, MarilynPriscilla Snoddy (Pinder)
THE THING I REMEMBER MOST ABOUT ROD WAS THAT HE WAS ALWAYS SMILING AND CHEERFUL. HE MADE YOU FEEL BETTER THAN YOU DID BEFORE YOU SAW HIM IN THE HALLWAYS AT WEBER. YOU WILL BE MISSED BY MORE THAN YOUR COUSINS, BUT BY YOUR FRIENDS TOO............PRISCILLADennis Chamberlain
I remember Rod well. Since the spelling of our names Cragun and Chamberlain we often sat close our near to each other in class at North Ogden Elementary, Wahlquist Jr. H.S., and WHS. For several years prior to his demise, I went to the dental clinic in North Ogden that he and Steve Hadley had built and established. Steve was my dentist prior to his retirement, but I frequently saw and spoke with Rod there. He was always cheerful with a big grin on his face. He was a great guy and will be missed by all who knew and associated with him. I send my deepest sympathies to Mary Beth and the entire Cragun Family with reference to Rod's passing. BTW, my family (Verle Barker was my stepfather), had 14 acres of cherries up on the Mountain Road in North Ogden. Just down the street from Merlin Hampson. We ran the packing house just up the street from my Uncle Wayne Barkers Gas Station where we sorted, packed and shipped out cherries to the Mid-West each cherry season. West Lindsay one of the WHS teachers (in fact I had him as a teacher), worked in the summer for our Utah Fruit Growers Association making the wooden 12 pound cherry box crates, that all the cherry farmers used to box and ship out their fruit with. I often remember Rod's father coming in to our warehouse along with many other cherry orchard farmers clear down to 12th street coming in to pick up a load of cherry boxes during the cherry season. One other thing, during at least one cherry season and perhaps more, I remember our old classmate Lana Barker working as one of our cherry sorters. Dennis Chamberlain