Craig Colunga

Daniel Craig Colunga, 57, of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, formerly of College Station, Texas, passed away on Thursday, October 17, 2024. Craig is preceded in death by his parents, Dr. Daniel and Stephanie Lois (Swafford) Colunga of College Station, Texas; his maternal grandparents, Emmett Stephens Swafford and Virgie Lee “Billie” (Smith) Swafford of Bryan, Texas; his paternal grandparents, Joe Colunga, Jr. and Margaret (Harrison) Colunga of Brownsville, Texas. Craig is survived by his wife, Julie D. (Clark) Colunga of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee; his sister, Kim (Colunga) Chavarria and brother-in-law, Louis “Mike” Chavarria of College Station, Texas and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews.

In 1985, Craig graduated from A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, Texas. During his high school years, he worked part-time as a security guard for a local retail chain and he worked also as a musician, playing piano, keyboard, and guitar with various bands. After high school he attended Blinn College in Bryan, Texas while simultaneously pursuing his interests in music. He eventually decided to take time off from academics to play keyboard for the Jack Houston Show, which toured the United States as the opening road band for country music artists such as Joe Diffie, Doug Stone, Garth Brooks, and Tanya Tucker. After returning to College Station at the end of the tour and completing his associates degree, Craig moved to Tennessee to pursue a music business degree at Belmont University. While enrolled at Belmont, Craig participated in both the 1993 Country Music Showcase and the 1994 Writer’s Showcase sponsored by the Music Business Department of Belmont University, performing in 1993 with Ben Travis, Wade Haynes, Jenny Hall and Cindy Foss and in 1994 performing in one of four acts with Sally Smithwick, Mitch Michen, Jessie Ellender, Brad Paisley, and Chris Morris. Additionally, in the 1990’s Craig was listed with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). In 2002, Craig married Julie D. Clark of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, even composing original music for their wedding ceremony. During this time he worked in the security department of Gaylord Entertainment at the Nashville Arena before eventually moving on to a supervisory position at the Nashville Symphony where he enjoyed being surrounded by a variety of music-based events.

Visitation for Craig will begin at 12:30 pm, Thursday, October 24, 2024, at the Memorial Funeral Chapel in College Station, Texas. Services will move to the College Station Aggie Field of Honor cemetery for a 2:00 pm graveside service.

In lieu of flowers, donations of any amount may be made to the Swafford Chapel Church in care of Mr. Duane Hodges, 644 Joe Brock St., Spencer, Tennessee 38585.

The Colunga family would like to thank all the extended family and friends who have gone out of their way to help during this difficult time and have given so much love to Craig. We would also like the thank the staff at the Pikeville Funeral Home in Pikeville, Tennessee and the Memorial Funeral Chapel staff for all their compassionate and professional help during this challenging time. His family will be forever thankful for the unknown person (or persons) that called for emergency medical help; as well as, thankful to all the teams at Summit and Tristar Centennial Medical Center that worked generously and tirelessly to stabilize Craig’s health enough to give his family and friends a bit more time to talk to Craig. May God forever bless you all for your gift to us.

If unable to attend Craig’s service and you would like to share condolences or memories, please visit Craig’s memorial page at https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/college-station-tx/craig-colunga-12033855.