Thomas Ray Craven

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: 1944; Tobacco farming
• Occupation: Between 1949 and 1999; Commercial Agricultural Pilot

Notes:

Thomas married his cousin Mamie Ann (Rouse) Allen, and subsequently
adopted her son Kenneth George Allen; thus Kenneth George Allen and Kenneth Allen Craven are the same individual.


Thomas Ray Craven is an experienced pilot, flys all over Canada, has done spraying, fire fighting, transporting of oil people to the North, much of this he has done in his middle years. He has maintained ownership on part of the 'farm', but sold portions of the lot as well.

Ray Craven marks 50 years as a Commercial Ag. Pilot
Ag. Pilot is Agricultural spraying, seeding and fertilizer applications; at one time employed by Can Ag Applicators, located Northeast of Delhi * Marg Craven (Sister) says "Thos. Ray sprayed the newly planted trees in N. Ontario with spray to kill weeds and brush to let the new trees get a good start."

Thomas was forced to drop out of high school late in his final year to take over the family's farm after his Father took sick. He took his flying lessons in London, Ont. He was able to take his first solo flight after just four hours with an instructor. Craven credits his instructor, a pilot trainer during the Second World War and later commanding officer of London's Reserve Squadron for teaching him all the right things. Ray obtained his private pilots license in 1947. Three years later, 1950 he obtained his commercial licence, and all the while, he contd working as a tobacco grower on what had now become his farm. For a few years he contd. farming and flying, doing mainly crop dusting jobs, but in time it became too much and his sister and brother -in-law started looking after the farming operations.
His work experience was crop dusting, spraying against spruce budworms in NB, tobacco spraying, pea crop spraying and mosquito spraying in Moncton and Dorval Airport. Later he was involved in aerial seeding and fertilizing; crops such as wheat and ginseng.

Source: Excerpt from The Tillsonburg News, Friday, October 22, 1999; page 3

Family/Spouse: Mamie Ann (Rouse) Allen. Mamie (daughter of Raymond Earl Rouse and Theresa Hayes) was born on 15 Sep 1939; died in 1996; was buried in Tillsonburg Cemetery, Tillsonburg, Oxford County, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: D. Swanepole. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]