N.L. "Moe" Craddock (1934 – March 4, 2008) was an American firefighter who helped create the city of Glenn Heights,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

(

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

). Craddock grew up in Lancaster, where he graduated from high school in 1953. He worked several jobs, including for three years as a lineman for Dallas Power & Light, before joining the

Dallas Fire Department The Dallas Fire-Rescue Department provides fire suppression, emergency medical services, rescue, hazardous materials response, and other public safety services to the city of Dallas, Texas. Dallas Fire-Rescue is the second-largest fire department ...

in 1958. He served as a firefighter and engineer driver before becoming the driver for the chief at station No. 36 in

West Dallas West Dallas is an area consisting of many communities and neighborhoods in Dallas, Texas, United States. West Dallas is the area bounded by Interstate 30 on the south, the Trinity River on the east and north, and the Trinity River's West Fork on ...

. It was while still with the fire department, that Craddock opened a mobile home park. This precipitated his civic interests in the area. He helped push for the incorporation of Glenn Heights in the late 1960s to prevent his business from being annexed by the neighboring city of DeSoto. The city was incorporated on September 16, 1969. Craddock became active in city politics, first as a city council member between 1972 and 1975, then in 1984-85 and 1988. He served as the city's mayor in 1985 and was elected to that office in 1988, 1990 and 1992. After retirement, he served on the boards of directors of HILCO Electric Cooperative, which led to board positions with Brazos Electric Cooperative Inc. and San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc. He is also credited with helping found the Bank of DeSoto, of which he was director. He was married to Sylvia Craddock. The couple had one son and two daughters. Craddock died March 4, 2008 at the age of 73. He was traveling aboard the M.S. Amsterdam cruise ship, which was off the coast of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, on his second around-the-world cruise, when he fell ill. According to

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

, he developed sepsis and died from complications from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

. He was buried in Trees Cemetery in Duncanville. Two streets in the city of Glenn Heights, Craddock Drive and Craddock Circle, are named after him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craddock, Moe Mayors of places in Texas American people of Welsh descent 1934 births 2008 deaths People from Lancaster, Texas 20th-century American politicians