Some men enter this world quiet, and some men come in like thunder, claiming every inch of ground beneath their feet. On June 18, 1958, down in the heat of Miami, Florida, Jimmy Lee Craig and Annie Ruth Valdes brought forth twin sons, and one of them answered to the name Ronald Lee Craig. Ronald grew up running the avenues of Miami, cutting his teeth in the streets and learning the game early, but the rhythm of his blood was always tied to the red clay of Vidalia and Statesboro, Georgia—places where his people had laid their bones and spoken truths into the dirt long before him. And it was right there in Statesboro where his path crossed with love, and from that union, his only child and daughter, Princess, was brought forth into this world. 

Ronald moved through this life with his own brand of swagger, the kind a man can’t buy in a store and can’t borrow from his neighbor. He possessed a tongue cut sharp from silver and deep pavement wisdom, armed with an impressive vocabulary that could turn a corner conversation into poetry and make a crowded room sit back in wonder. Outspoken and quick on his feet, Ronald never knew a stranger. He looked a man dead in the eye and demanded you meet him where he stood. Whenever you ran into him, his greeting was always the same—he’d hit you with that grin, lean in, and open the conversation with: “What the business is?” followed right up by, “Tell me something good and stick to it.” 

Everybody knew Ronald for that famously hard head of his—especially his mother, Annie Ruth, who knew better than anyone that once her boy set his mind, there wasn’t much turning him around. He stood flat-footed on his own square, and if the whole world was turning left, Ronald had no trouble walking right. He wasn’t a man to apologize for his fire. Yet behind that stubborn will lived a giant heart, fierce and protective of the ones he claimed as his own. 

The road he walked wasn’t paved in gold; it was full of loose gravel, hard bends, iron gates, and high water. Life threw its share, but Ronald took the crooked with the straights, meeting every season with resilience and his own unforgettable flair. Through all of it, his daughter, Princess, was the jewel in his crown—his flesh, his pride, and the deepest love of his life. 

On Friday, October 2, 2026, at the age of sixty-eight, Ronald laid his heavy burdens down, and the Lord called his spirit home to rest. The struggle ceased, the doors swung wide, and the ancestors stood up to receive him. 

Waiting on the other side of that veil to greet him were his mother, Annie Ruth, and his father, Jimmy Lee; sisters, Burnestine and Helen; brother, Jimmy; and waiting right beside them was his twin, Donald, ready to walk side-by-side once more. 

He leaves here to tell his story and sing his song: his beloved only child and daughter, Princess LaRonda (Craig) Black, and her wife, Cherlexia Black, of Washington, DC; bonus son, Anthony Venson of Savannah, GA; brother, Vernon Prince of Statesboro, GA; sisters, Alberta Craig, Shirley Sakers (Edward Sakers), and Nashema Thornton, all of Miami, FL, and Pippa Gilford of Houston, TX; uncle, David Smith (Beverly J. Smith) of Newberry, FL; and a multitude of cousins, nieces, nephews, and brethren from Biscayne Bay, where he loved to hang, all the way to the Georgia pines. 

Ronald Lee Craig has finished his earthly journey, but his voice echoes on in every heart that loved him: 
“What the business is?” 
Followed by: 
“Tell me something good and stick to it.” 
We love you, Ronald. That’s good, and that’s what we’re going to stick to.