Russ: Longtime “curb hop” at Lexington Barbecue dies

Wayne Monk (left) and Russell “Russ” Craver share a laugh at Lexington Barbecue. {Facebook contributed photo}

Lexington native Russell “Russ” Craver was the epitome of “service with a smile” as a curb hop at Lexington Barbecue for the past 33 years.

Craver, who recently turned 50, died Tuesday, Aug. 15, after a short illness.

“I’ve known him a long time as a friend and as an employee,” said Rick Monk, son of the owner of Lexington Barbecue, Wayne Monk. “You could count on him both ways. He was always in a good mood and easy to work with.”

Rick Monk said most of his employees are long-term workers who are more like family.

The second-generation barbecue restauranteur noted there was a 15-year difference in their ages but they found common ground talking about music and baseball.

“We’re both big Bruce Springsteen fans,” he said, adding Craver was a Boston Red Sox fan while he cheers for the New York Yankees.

“He’s sorely missed by his fellow employees and customers,” Monk lamented. “He had a fan base.”

One of those fellow employees is John “Cone” Smith, who will soon turn 60 and has worked at “The Monk” for 43 years as a curb hop (a person who takes orders from customers’ cars and delivers them).

“He was just 16 when he started here 33 years ago,” Smith said. “He was one of my best friends.”

Smith shared Craver is best known as a curb hop but he worked in the kitchen when needed. “He could do it all.”

Smith said they traveled to attend concerts and sporting events in cities such as Seattle and Baltimore. He offered Craver also often traveled with his sister, Lydia Craver, who has worked at ESPN and several large newspapers and took him along on her work assignment trips.

“His dad said at the hospital that you couldn’t find a brother and sister any closer,” he recalled. “And he was planning to go to Boston to see the Red Sox and James Taylor later this month with his girlfriend.

“There are a lot of people who love him,” Smith noted. “He was well-liked throughout the community.”

Craver’s Facebook page shows he had a little over 2,000 Facebook friends. The page chronicles his many trips to concerts and sporting events. He visited Sun Studio in Memphis and the Elvis Presley Museum in Tupelo, the Red Rocks amphitheater in Colorado, Las Vegas and New Orleans. He also traveled abroad to Italy on one occasion.

One of his Facebook friends and a longtime pal from Lexington Senior High, Frank Callicutt, vice president of Evans Properties and city council member, said, “He knew absolutely everybody and was friends with absolutely everyone. I don’t know too many people I can say that about.”

Callicutt said Craver’s friends ran the gamut, just like his taste in music.

“He had a music collection second to none,” he explained. “His knowledge of music was off the charts. I think music and traveling were his real passions. And the Red Sox.”

Always quick with a smile and upbeat, Callicutt said Craver was something of an ambassador for the business. “I would venture to say he was just as much a face of The Monk as anyone — and I don’t think that would upset anyone, including Wayne. He was an institution.”