Dr. Jack Henry Crosby

August 3, 1934 – April 13, 2009

Jack Henry Crosby, M.D. passed away on April 13, 2009, at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. Jack was born in Peoria, Illinois on August 3,

1934. He grew up in Springfield, Illinois and attended Washington

University in St. Louis. Jack and his wife Susan were married in May 1956. They moved to Chicago where Jack attended the University of Illinois College of Medicine. From there they moved to Iowa City where Jack began his residency in internal medicine at the University of Iowa.

A year later, Jack was drafted and spent three years as an army doctor, practicing in Hawaii, Denver and Edgewood Arsenal, MD. He returned to the University of Iowa to complete his residency. Following a brief period as a doctor in Ellensburg, WA, Jack moved his family to Bend in 1969, to practice internal medicine at Bend Memorial Clinic. His interests were focused on cardiology and endocrinology, but Dr. Crosby was best known for being a great detective when it came to figuring out complex diagnoses. Jack retired from BMC in 1998 due chronic pain related to back injury. He loved the practice of medicine, cared deeply for his patients, and found it difficult to leave his career.

Throughout his life, he had a variety of interests that he invariably pursued with great passion. Jack was a lover of nature and a bold adventurer when his body allowed. During his time in Hawaii, he became an accomplished scuba diver and could tell a hair-raising story about running out of air in a deep cave or spearing fish amidst a school of sharks. Once in Central Oregon, he took to hiking and backpacking and developed a knack for unplanned overnighters in the Three Sisters Wilderness. As a result, he was a well-known character with the Deschutes County Search and Rescue. Nordic skiing in the fresh powder was one of his very favorite things. He cherished remote places, wildflowers, bird songs and beautiful sunsets.

Jack was a serious connoisseur and avid collector of fine wine. His collecting also encompassed books of all kinds (especially history, of which he was a dedicated student), classical music and interesting rocks found on his wilderness romps. In his later years, Jack devoted significant time and energy to studying and practicing Zen Buddhism and meditation.

Jack’s surviving family includes his wife, Susan; his daughter, Elizabeth Crosby Williams; his son, Andrew Crosby; and grandchildren, Claire and Peter Williams, and Sawyer and Ella Crosby.

Niswonger-Reynolds Funeral Home was honored to serve the family.

Dr. Jack Henry Crosby