DGE 6200 Craig Walling
Club: Gonzales
Craig Walling became a member of the Rotary Club of Baton Rouge in January 2009. Craig enjoyed his time at the Baton Rouge club but left after a year when his company relocated to North Carolina. Upon returning to Louisiana in 2014, Mark LaCour invited Craig to join the Rotary Club of Gonzales and has since held positions of membership chair, treasurer, president in 2018/19, secretary, and foundation chair. Craig has been Rotarian of the year three times and continues to have perfect attendance. Craig is a Major Donor, sustaining member, an EREY donor and a Bequest Society member and most recently a member of the Polio Plus Society. Craig has been Assistant District Governor to Yvonne Norman, Mark Lee and Tim McNabb, since the 2020/21 year. Craig has attended the Rotary International Conventions in Atlanta and Houston and virtually attended the Honolulu Convention, due to Corona Virus.
Craig was born at Camp Leroy Johnson, on the Lake Front in New Orleans in 1953. As an Army brat, Craig moved extensively until settling in New York City. In 1969, Craig moved to Houma, Louisiana where he graduated from Terrebonne High School in 1974 and Nicholls State University, where he received a BS degree in Animal Science, was a Distinguished Military Graduate and commissioned in the U.S. Army in 1976. Craig received an MBA from Long Island University in 1988.
While serving for 26 years in the Army, Craig had a distinguished military career serving from 1976 until 2002. Craig’s military assignments spanned the military’s leadership and staff roles from platoon leader, two battalion commands, which included being the mayor of three Kaserne’s based in Kitzingen, Germany, to Director of the Chem/Bio Defense Program in Washington DC. He also had unique assignments such as Course Director and Instructor for four years at the United States Military Academy, in West Point, New York and Commander, United States Army Recruiting Battalion, New Orleans, Louisiana. Craig retired as a Colonel in 2002.
Craig’s second career brought him back home to Louisiana. Craig worked for Innovative Emergency Management (IEM) as Director and Project Manager for Defense Programs and became a Certified Project Manager, graduating from the Project Management Institute in 2012. Craig retired from IEM in 2013.
Craig and Clara, his wife, opened the cutest and sweetest antique shop, C&C Treasures, LLC. They also executed estate sales in private homes, in South Louisiana and then fully retired in 2020.
Craig Sits on a number of local boards and commissions.
Craig and his wife, Clara were married in August 1974, and have settled in Maurepas, Louisiana. They have two daughters: Heather, an LSU graduate and educator at Sorrento Primary School, who has a son, Michael and a daughter, Haleigh. Their second daughter, Jennifer, a Louisiana Tech graduate and educator at Hidden Valley Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina, has two sons, Jacob and Jackson and a daughter, Madelyn. As a committed Rotarian, Craig plans to continue his service to Rotary and his community