Keep Jesus Close, Brother!

By Faith Wolfley, Founder & President, Wolf911

Craig had a gift for making everyone he met feel like his closest friend. It didn't matter if he'd known you for thirty years or thirty minutes — if you were in his orbit, you felt it. That enormous, open, generous heart of his was simply impossible to resist.

Jim Wexell experienced that firsthand. As the editor and driving force behind Steel City Insider, Jim gave Craig his first opportunity to write and be published — and over nearly twenty years, helped him grow and mature into the gifted storyteller he became. Jim was the one who first saw what Craig had to say and believed the world needed to hear it. He encouraged Craig to stay with the book project when it would have been easy to set it aside, and it was Jim who made the connection to Triumph Books — the publisher Jim had worked with on all his books — bringing Craig's stories to a national audience.

The relationship was beautifully full circle. Craig and Tunch Ilkin later brought Jim back into Pittsburgh radio when they launched "In the Locker Room with Tunch & Wolf" — where Jim became a weekly contributor throughout every football season. Jim didn't just help Craig tell his stories. He was part of Craig's story.

Together they created Craig's final and greatest gift to Pittsburgh — "If These Walls Could Talk: Pittsburgh Steelers," published by Triumph Books in November 2025, just months after Craig went home to Jesus on March 10, 2025.

The last words Craig ever said to Jim were simple and perfect:

"Keep Jesus close, brother."

We couldn't say it better ourselves. Click the link below to read Jim's beautiful tribute — and then pick up the book that Craig poured his heart and soul into right up until the very end.

Read Jim Wexell's tribute here

With love and gratitude,
Faith Wolfley
Founder & President, Wolf911
Bridge of Hope. Amplifier of Compassion.