Family, Friends Raise Funds To Celebrate Santa Rosa Man's Life

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Family and friends of a Santa Rosa man who died June 23 in a motorcycle crash in West Sonoma County remember him as a person who was passionate about life and his interests.

Just a few months before his death, 48-year-old Jason Michael Craig returned in February from a 10,000-mile motorcycle road trip to Central America and back, according to his first cousin, Allen Myers.

"He left us all too soon," Myers wrote on a GoFundMe page to raise money for memorial expenses.

At 5:35 p.m. June 23, Craig was riding with a group of friends when he lost control of his BMW motorcycle, sending him and the motorcycle off Annapolis Road and into a fencepost near Stewarts Point-Skaggs Road, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The CHP said Craig lost control of his bike for reasons that were not immediately known.

Myers said according to friends at the scene, his cousin still had a heartbeat as paramedics arrived and tried to resuscitate him.

Craig was unconscious and his injuries were so severe that he died at the scene, according to the CHP.

"We now share in grief and envision many of our family welcoming him on the other side with open arms and a glass of wine," Myers wrote.

Craig worked in the North Bay wine industry, and was a certified sommelier, Myers told Patch in a phone interview.

"We could always count on Jason to bring a cool bottle of wine and tell us all about it," Myers said.

That was just one of his passions; for the longest time, he was into bicycling. And in the 1990s, Craig worked as a DJ in San Francisco.

His interest in motorcycles was his latest passion, as evidenced by the road trip to Central America with his best friend Luis, Myers said.

Just a couple hours before he died, Craig picked up his motorcycle from the repair shop, Myers said.

Then the fated phone call came.

A day passed before his grieving cousin decided to start the GoFundMe campaign.

"We would like to honor his life and know that not one of us can do it alone," Myers wrote on GoFundMe. "Jason made the party wherever he was. Let us continue that tradition, a celebration of his life. Please, if you knew Jason contribute to this gofundme to help cover expenses for a memorial."

As of Wednesday, memorial plans were still in the works but more than $3,200 in donations have been made toward the fundraising goal of $10,000.

To Craig's friends and family members, Myers said, "Keep the stories and photos coming, they are weaving friends and family in a tapestry of love during this painful time."