Craig Zeilenga

Craig Zeilenga, 80, of Champaign, died at his home on Saturday, Nov.
29, 2025. Born in Chicago on Oct. 14, 1945 to William and Eleanor
(Towner) Zeilenga, Craig displayed a high mechanical aptitude and
interest in machines and building them from an early age. As a
teenager he worked in a pharmacy and almost apprenticed as a
pharmacist, but the love of making useful things in metal drew him
into the tool and die trade after high school. Craig also loved cars
and trains, especially the steam engines of the Pennsylvania
Railroad, and was famous for driving a pair of 1976 Ford Elites that
he maintained himself.

Craig met Mary Ann Rentfrow in a laundromat in late 1979. The family
story is that one of Mary Ann's friends suggested she work in the
laundromat over the holidays so she could meet Craig; be that as it
may, the two of them hit it off and married on May 27, 1983, at St.
Joseph Catholic Church in Bradley. Attending Mass with Mary Ann led
Craig to want to join the Catholic Church, and he was initiated in
the first RCIA class at St. Patrick Catholic Church, Kankakee in
1987. Craig finished his career as an instrument maker in the
Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of
Illinois, Urbana, where one of his most prized jobs was making
scanning tunneling microscopes used both by the University and in
industry.

Craig loved the Catholic faith and was a daily Mass attendee, and
was frequently to be found in the company of his Lord at the
perpetual adoration chapel at St. Matthew. He was a gregarious and
sociable man who enjoyed getting to know people, and made many
friends among the daily Mass regulars. He was not a huge fan of
sports but he would happily go to his grandchildren's games, and he
especially enjoyed their concerts and theatrical performances.

Craig was preceded by his parents William and Eleanor, his sister
Ellen, and his wife Mary Ann. He is survived by his daughters Alicia
(Nicholas) Haggin of Champaign, IL and Michelle (Brent) Claspill of
Galesville, IL, and grandchildren Apollo Gannaway, John Haggin,
Joseph Haggin, Rita Haggin, and Michael Haggin.

Visitation will be from 6-8 PM on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at Freese
Funeral Home, Tolono, with the Rosary prayed at 5:30 PM. By his
request, a Traditional Requiem Mass will be celebrated by Fr.
Michael Pica at 10 AM on Thursday, Dec. 4, at St. Matthew Catholic
Church, Champaign. Interment will follow at St. Mary's Cemetery,
Champaign.

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