Hard to believe you would have been 91 today. Miss you so much dad. 

God bless you all as you celebrate and remember a man who FINISHED STRONG. 

Happy Birthday, Dad!  Heading to Catalina tomorrow with Robin and Mom in honor of you.  Miss you!

Sometimes life has challenges that you just want to share with Dad. It wasn’t always about what he would say in return, it was just the listening ear of a father. I miss that today! I am also challenged to do that well for my own kids in the years to come. I want to be remembered like I remember my dad.Miss you today Dad! 

I did several Catalina sails with Bob over the years. Once, it was just the two of us in his smaller, earlier boat. We tied up in the Avalon Harbor and got a shore boat ride to the dock. After dinner, which was not easy to find since this was sometime between Labor Day and Memorial Day and guests on the island were few and far between, we decided to take in a movie at the big, HUGE, theater in the old Casino Building (see photo). When we got inside we discovered we were the only customers for the movie in a theater that held between 2,000 and 2,500 or more in those days! I remember Bob quipping,"Do you suppose we can find 2 seats together!" What a crazy night. I have no idea what the movie was but we could comment freely out loud and talk back to the screen in this huge room. Whenever I see a photo of the Avalon Casino I always recall that unique night 50 years ago or so.

Several days before his birthday, I wrote a personal greeting to Bob (below) ... hoping to have one more occasion to thank him for his investment in our lives.  He passed away before the letter arrived.  Though he never read my comments, I'm guessing that his home in glory is filling the gap.  Bob is having a very good day today.  Roger K
_______

Dear Bob:

Lori and I wish to add our personal greetings on this milestone day.  Happy Birthday, my friend!  You are loved!  In the early 70’s, Fullerton Free Church faithfully sent its youth groups to winter and summer camps at Forest Home.  Seems impossible that it’s been fifty years ago that I entered Hormel Hall to hear luminaries like The Rice Kryspies, Dave Hopkins, Sonny Salsbury, Ted Limpic, Gary Richmond, and the Random Sample.  And how can I ever forget the venerable Stanley Collins shocking me and my high school buddies with his inimitable message, “Temptation is Not a Sin!”  But nothing compared to the repartee you shared with Paul Sailhamer at the piano as your sidekick.  Man, you guys always brought the house down!   In 1973, I learned that my family was moving from Southern California to Boston.  My world was ending.  I was 16 years old and convinced that I would never see my friends, Forest Home, nor the church I loved ever again.  Just before we moved, and while attending high school camp at Forest Home, I sought you out for counsel.  You agreed to meet with me in the Clubhouse after the evening session.  You bought us both ice cream sundaes and we sat at one of those old pine tables while you patiently listened to me pour my sorry heart out.  I don’t really remember what you said, I just remember that you cared.  Well, turns out that our stint in New England was just two years long.  Fast forward to 1988 when you arrived at Fullerton Free Church as our latest big league acquisition on the all-star staff.  Lori and I had volunteered to lead the New Community class.  Somehow, I stirred up the courage to ask you and Carol to join our effort.  Shockingly, you both agreed to teach and mentor a bunch of young married couples … and the rest is history.  It’s impossible to adequately express the impact you had on New Community, and in particular, the Kemp family.  Immediately, you became a role model for Lori and me.  You poured your lives into us, unselfishly attending all of our socials and events.  You taught our class every Sunday morning.  And we will also cherish the memory of all the golf rounds we played, the multiple excursions on the Kraning yacht back and forth to Catalina, the men’s steak fry, the Kings hockey games, the couples retreats, and your personal care for each one of our little kids … who all revere the Kranings as exceptional. Bob, even though the years and miles have created a distance between our families, we continue to follow much of what you taught us through word and deed.  You remain on our very short list of couples-we-wanna-be-like when we grow up!  May God continue to have His hand on your life, and may this next year be among the best ever.   We love you more than you can possibly know!  Roger

Bob Kraning and I have shared some great places and spaces on this old planet since we first met at ACORN LODGE up in Wrightwood 58 years ago. Bob was the new YFC director for Long Beach and Orange County and I was a senior in high school and a leader in the YFC club at my school, Millikan HS, Long Beach. Acorn Lodge is up in the mountains near Mt Baldy. I had never been there before or since, and neither had Bob. In 2005 Sue and I and Bob and Carol drove up To Acorn Lodge to remember how the Lord brought our lives together in that place so many years previously.

Since 1963, Bob and I have ministered together in the San Fernando Valley, Forest Home, Fullerton, a variety of camps and conference centers, special events in other countries as well as on the high seas . . . but that ended two weeks ago. Bob went to glory!

I was going into my senior year of high school and Bob and Carol had moved to Cypress to begin working with Youth for Christ in Long Beach and Orange County when I first met them. In 1964, Bob left Long Beach/OC for the Valley. I was crushed. I loved working with Bob and learning so much everyday. Suddenly it seemed over! Then Bob called and said he and Carol would like me to move with them to the Valley YFC ministry staff, live for a year in their home and go to college at Northridge? YES!

In 1969 Bob left the Valley and moved his growing family to Yucaipa to become a significant part of the Forest Home ministry team. I hated to lose Bob from the Valley. Even though my attention was now focused on church youth ministry, Bob and I still collaborated on many things and I had continued to learn from him as always. I came to realize that Bob’s move to Forest Home became my own entree into the incredible world of Christian Camping. I would later work with Bob at Forest Home, serve on their board and most significantly, meet Sue there!

In 1999 I left the pastoral team at Fullerton to help start The Servants Trust. That meant “leaving” my daily relationship with the rest of the grand ministry team at our church, and Bob who was now a senior member of that team. The joys of serving with Bob at the Fullerton church were abundant. However since the Kranings and the Sailhamers lived only a few miles apart in North Orange County we continued to enjoy the best of several worlds. In fact, our two sons got to know the Bob Kraning I had known and treasured for so many years.

Then, March 5, 2020, the Lord called Bob home! Over the years as Bob faced heart attacks and other health challenges I often asked myself, “What would it be like living in this world without Bob Kraning; would I want to live in such a world?” With Sue’s help, God’s grace and our grandchildren, we’re starting to answer that question using so much that we have learned from Bob and Carol. Part of that is the friends and the fellowship we value in the Joint Heirs, our adult fellowship group. The Kranings were always great “church folk” in the best sense of that term, as are their families. We want to make sure that part of their message continues to be heard and seen, communicated and demonstrated!

Bach is gone! But his world and his music still has a huge influence on ours. Bunyan is gone, but millions of pilgrims still find him a great help to their own spiritual progress. Bob is gone to glory, but his kind of living and sharing the gospel continue to direct my path.

My first memory of Bob was when he spoke to the high school group at Hollywood Pres. My dad was the youth pastor at the time and he and Bob were friends through Forest Home and youth ministry connections as well as golfing buddies.

In 1970 I applied to work at Forest Home for the summer and Bob hired me. I worked as a waitress under the supervision of Carol Kraning in the main dining room. I'll never forget my surprise when Bob asked me to come as a gal leader on a water ski trip to Big Bear with Him and Carol and a dozen or so high schoolers during a week of family camp. He even needed me to drive his red Oldsmobile on some errands while we were there. I had just turned nineteen and I remember thinking, "my dad would never let me drive on a church trip." Bob treated me like I was mature and responsible. He baptized me in Lake Mears at Forest Home the following summer at the end of College Briefing Conference.

The man I married was friends with Bob and Carol. In fact he had lived in their home for a year and considered Bob his mentor, long before the word was in vogue. When Paul and I married in 1975, Bob was a groomsman in our wedding. 

I am beyond grateful for Bob's influence in Paul's life and for the example of godly leadership in marriage and ministry that he and Carol modeled to us and so many others. Bob was a gifted communicator. He could always cut right to the heart of an issue with just the right words. Bob could make just about anything fun. I was thrilled when he joined the pastoral staff at EV Free Fullerton and He and Carol moved to north Orange County. Bob was available to people and he and Carol continued to minister for many years in many different arenas. Thank you, Lord, for Bob and Carol Kraning. Bob was one of those larger than life guys. The stories will keep on coming and his legacy as a man of God and servant of Christ will never be forgotten. 

I first met Bob and Carol at Forest Home over 50 years ago in 1969 -- my first on summer staff -- we spent the next 5 summers enjoying the Forest Home vibe together. (and raiding the Clubhouse after high school room check to enjoy a midnight snack!)   They quickly became two of my favorite people -- always making me feel special and listened to.  I knew Kent and Kevin as elementary school boys and was even Robin's tribal chief when she was a little girl -- yep, I knew both Kent and Robin before they even met!  Bob married Gary and I at Malibu Presbyterian (along with Walt Gerber, the pastor) many years ago.  We always enjoyed it when our paths crossed with the Kranings through the years -- weddings, Avalon, birthday parties, etc.  I was deeply moved when they made the long drive to attend my surprise 60th birthday party.  I am honored to call both Bob and Carol friends -- they taught me so much about being real, kind, and caring.  

I am so sorry for your family's loss of such a Godly man. Your dad was such a huge part of why I wanted to work at forest home. He was one of the best directors they ever had. When I had the honor of finally getting to be on staff, he always made time to say hello and remember my name. That's something I have never forgotten.  While we lost such a wonderful example of a faithful follower of Jesus,  Heaven gained one of His adopted sons. Praying for peace for you all.

There are many  blessed memories to count but his life impacted mine for Christ by so many years working at Forest Home! His walk with Christ and enthusiasm for teaching about Jesus Christ were contagious. I reconnected with Bob and Carol at EvFree as I was a member there.
I'm not sure if I remember this right but I believe he preached a sermon at EvFree regarding heaven. He said time in eternity would be like the person who died and has gone to be with Jesus would feel that those believers left on earth were coming right behind them. This message meant so much when my sister in law died, my brother Bill learned over and told Gina, "we're coming right behind you" 
Bob married Dave and I, I believe on his Birthday, April 8, 25 years ago. So grateful for Bob and Carol, praying for  Carol and family. So grateful we will see him again❤❤