Cracroft, R. Paul

R. Paul Cracroft (1922-2008) was born in Salt Lake City to Ralph Cracroft and Grace Darling White Cracroft. He attended East High School, and graduated from the University of Utah, where he received his B.A. in English Literature in 1939, and then his M.A. in 1954. In the interim, he served a mission for the LDS church in the North Central States from 1942-1944, and after that, enlisted in the Army from 1944-1946, where he attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant. During this period of time, he also married Kathryn (Kay) Storrs in 1944, and with her had six children. R. Paul Cracroft worked for the Salt Lake Tribune from 1947-1948 as a campus and general reporter, and left to became the Assistant Director of Public Relations at the U from 1948-1951. From 1951-1956, he was Sen. Wallace Bennett's Press Secretary until he returned again to the U as Assistant Director, from 1955-1956. R. Paul Cracroft spent much of the rest of his career at the University of Utah. He was the Promotion Director for the Summer Festival productions, 1948-1951, was the U's first unofficial Sports Information Director and Statistician in the same years. From 1956-1967, he was the Executive Director of the University of Utah Alumni Association, and also served as an editor to "The Utah Alumnus." He was the Director of Lectures and Concerts from 1967-1980, and concurently the Manager of Kingsbury Hall from 1977-1990, when he retired. R. Paul Cracroft also taught Journalism at the U from 1964-1975, and as a fill-in until 1980. After that, he taught again in 1985.

In his own words, R. Paul Cracroft's life:

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