Cairney, Craig
CAIRNEY, Craig Brandon
Craig Brandon Cairney passed away from a respiratory infection and complications from Alzheimer's on July 27, 2023, in Austin, Texas. He was born in Seattle, Washington, on May 3, 1943, the third child and first boy for Helen and Ralph Cairney. He had a lifetime love of airplanes and loved to tell the story of the day he went to watch the hydroplane races in Seattle on Lake Washington and was one of thousands of witnesses to the barrel roll during the test flight of the first Boeing passenger jet, in August 1955.
Craig graduated from Grant High School, and studied landscape architecture at University of Oregon, but switched to business before he graduated, in 1967. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and met his future wife, Kaye Gill Paterson, at the wedding of a fraternity brother in Portland. They were happily married for 53 years.
Craig joined the over-the-counter (OTC) trading department at Goodbody & Co. in New York City, in 1968. He jumped at the chance to relocate to the exotic Southeast regional office in Atlanta, in 1969, and then joined Merrill Lynch. Craig was well-known and highly-respected in his profession and was President of the Georgia Securities Traders Association, in 1984. He worked for Trust Company that became C&S Bank, then Johnson Lane. In 1995, he become a Certified Financial Planner and served various clients for NationsBank, finally retiring as Chief of Compliance for the State of Georgia for Banc of America Investment Services, Inc. Craig accomplished a lot in his 40-year career and he always celebrated the success of others. His quiet advice provided essential support in work and in his wife's various volunteer endeavors.
The couple raised their two daughters, Amy and Sarah, in Atlanta, Georgia, where they lived for 54 years, but Craig always loved to get back to Oregon to visit family and friends around Portland and Seaside. He was an avid gardener and yard warrior and was a member of the Buckhead Men's Garden Club. He consistently had one of the best-looking lawns in Hanover West. He loved to water ski in his youth on Puget Sound and had a wonderful sense of humor.
Craig was predeceased by his parents; his sister, Jean (Cairney) Thomas; and his wife, Kaye Paterson Cairney. He is survived by his sister, Ann (Cairney) Musmansky; his brother, Bruce Cairney and wife Cindy; as well as his daughters and their families including his four grandchildren, Jack, Katherine, Juliet and Stewart, of whom he was very proud. Please consider making a donation to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens or the Oregon Conservation Recreation Fund in his memory. He was well loved and will be deeply missed. A Celebration of Life will take place in Seaside, in summer 2024.
