SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 1867
A Resolution honoring Craig Yorke, Sr.
WHEREAS, Craig Yorke, Sr. is retiring at the conclusion of the 1999 legislative session from his
position as a member of the Sergeant-at-Arms staff for the Kansas Senate, a position he has held since
1993; and
WHEREAS, Craig Yorke's life is a saga worth telling: He was born December 24, 1912, in New
Bedford, Massachusetts. Abandoned by his mother at age 4, when discovered he was found to be
seriously ill. He spent the next seven years in a tuberculosis sanatorium where kind soldiers who had
been gassed in World War I treated him as their own and taught him to read and write. In 1921 he
was released and placed in a Catholic orphanage. Before completing high school he had lived with his
grandmother, father and four foster families. During grammar school he won a city-wide house design
contest and received a large radio. After his first year in high school he had won all 12 of the city's
prizes in drafting. After graduating from high school he completed a year of college at Lincoln Uni-
versity in Pennsylvania before being forced to leave in 1933 because of lack of money; and
WHEREAS, Craig Yorke was a phenomenal athlete. In grammar school, in his first at bat in a
playground baseball game, he hit the ball for a homer and through a classroom window. He played
quarterback in high school football, was a state champion runner but excelled in baseball--particularly
as a hitter. From age 14 and for 16 years he played semi-professional baseball. He was a switch hitter
and maintained a batting average over .300. He played on several white as well as black teams earning
from $.35 to $29 per game. In Yankee Stadium, while playing for the Brooklyn Black Sox, he bunted
safely against the great Sachel Paige; and
WHEREAS, After working as a draftsman for some time, with much of it being electrical drawings,
he qualified as a Registered Electrical Engineer. In 1963 he started a new career working for the
federal government as an electrical engineer and, later, working as a specifications writer and chief
electrical design engineer, retiring in 1985. Subsequently he worked for Holmes and Narver, Inc. in
Albuquerque on a high priority project involving the U.S. Navy and its activities at the North Pole;
and
WHEREAS, Craig Yorke married Dorothy Britt Reed in 1941. She died in 1988. He has one son,
Craig Yorke, Jr., a neurosurgeon here in Topeka, a daughter-in-law, Mary Powell, and two grandsons,
Zachary and Christopher, both students at Topeka High School: Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the Senate of the State of Kansas: That we marvel about the life experiences of
Craig Yorke, Sr. and will miss the cordial welcome he has given to visitors in the Senate galleries; and
Be it further resolved: That the Secretary of the Senate be directed to provide five enrolled copies
of this resolution to Craig Yorke, Sr.
Senate Resolution No. 1867 was sponsored by Senators Clark, Oleen, Petty, Barone, Becker, Biggs,
Bleeker, Bond, Brownlee, Corbin, Donovan, Downey, Emert, Feleciano, Gilstrap, Gooch, Goodwin,
Hardenburger, Harrington, Hensley, Huelskamp, Jones, Jordan, Kerr, Langworthy, Lawrence, Lee,
Morris, Praeger, Pugh, Ranson, Salisbury, Salmans, Steffes, Steineger, Stephens, Tyson, Umbarger,
Vidricksen and VratilI hereby certify that the above RESOLUTION originated in the SENATE,
and was adopted by that body
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