TB Fighter’s Niece, Nephew Honored in Denver
By DALE HUFFMAN COMMENTARY
A Miamisburg couple, Evelyn and Virgil Battenbergf, who are both 88 are visiting in Denver, Colo., where they are being given the red- carpet treatment.
It was Evelyn’s uncle, a man named Frank Craig, who moved from Ohio to Denver in the early 1900s and pitched a tent hoping the mountain air would help him breath better.
Craig was fighting tuberculosis, a widespread infectious lung disease at the time, and he soon was helping others dealing with TB.
In 1907 he started the “Tent Colony of Brotherly Love” on Colfax Street in Denver for indigent men with tuberculosis.
Soon a number of cottages were built and the medical facility grew.
“It was in 1914 that my uncle died at the age of 37 in his tent,” Evelyn said. “They changed the name of Tent Colony to Craig Colony in his honor.”
She added, “My Uncle Frank had little money but what he had he used to buy tents for other suffering from TB. He has been described as a very generous and caring man who did so much to help people who were suffering and in need.”
When tuberculosis declined, the medical community named after Evelyn’s uncle shifted emphasis to medical treatment and rehabilitation.
In 1958 the facility was renamed Craig Rehabilitation Center, and in 1966 Craig Rehabilitation Hospital.
This year as the facility, now usually called simply Craig Hospital celebrates 100 years of serving the public, a number of special events have been held.
“When they located members of Frank Craig’s family they invited us to come to Denver as their guests and be a part of a big parade on June 7th, and other centennial celebrations,” Evelyn said. “We are to have limousine service and they are giving us royal treatment.”
Evelyn and Virgil will celebrate 67 years of marriage in July, and she said this trip is an advance celebration for the two.
Virgil retired after 43 years as an engineer at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and Evelyn is a well known musician in Dayton. She worked for Kettering schools as a music teacher for a number of years, has been a piano teacher for more than 50 years, and has been organist for several area churches.
“Virgil and I were honored as being members of Westminster Church for 69 years,” Evelyn said. “These are very good days for us.”
She said it is an honor to be a part of the Craig Hospital 100th celebration in Denver.
“It is something to be a part of history. It is an honor to have an uncle who not only cared for others and gave his last dollar to help folks with tuberculosis. And to think that now this well respected hospital carries his name.”
Craig Hospital is now exclusively dedicated to specialty rehabilitation and research for patients with spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injury. Craig has treated more than 25,500 patients since 1956, more spinal cord injury patients than any other medical facility in the world.
“It all began with my uncle in a tent back in 1907,” Evelyn said. “It is a wonderful thing that he started and we are pleased to help the medical community in Denver celebrate this milestone.”
(c) 2007 Dayton Daily News. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.