Obit: Crosby, Kenneth O. (1886 - 1953)

Contact: Stan

Email: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Crosby, Staley, Morris

----Source: OWEN ENTERPRISE (Owen, Clark County, Wis.) 10/08/1953

Crosby, Kenneth O. (25 MAY 1886 - 6 OCT 1953)

Dr. K. O. Crosby, one of the best loved residents of the community (Owen, Clark Co., Wis.), was placed in his final resting place in the Riverside Cemetery this forenoon.  Funeral services were conducted at 11 o’clock from his beloved St. Katherine’s Episcopal Church, where he had served as its pastor since 1945.

Dean Brandt of Christ Cathedral of Eau Claire officiated at the requiem mass and was assisted by Bishop H. C. Horstick, Eau Claire; the rt. Rev. J. Ethan Allen, Rice Lake; the Rt. Rev. R. C. Kilbourn, Hudson; the Rev. M. P. McKay, Barron, and the Rev. G. Phillip Jung of Sparta.

Pallbearers were R. e. Gabriel, Carl Holverson, L. W. Cattanach, E. W. Sutter, Ben Bruchert and Paul Fricke, all officers of the parish.

Word of his death at 9:35 Tuesday night at Sacred heart Hospital, Eau Claire, came as a surprise to many of his friends.  He had been in the hospital for the past three weeks but few realized the extent and seriousness of his illness.  He was never one to complain with the result being most of his friends believed he was suffering from his re-occurring heart condition, but death was due to other complications.

"Doc", as he was known throughout the community, was the fortunate possessor of a magnetic personality.  From the day he came to Owen to accept his pastorate in 1945 he endeared himself to practically everyone he met.  His enviable sense of humor and wit coupled with his sincere and devout understandings of his teachings and needs of others, afforded him a life and background unparalleled only by a few of his own profession.

Kenneth Crosby was born on May 25, 1886, in Cleveland, Ohio, being the son of the late Albert and Minnie Crosby.  He attended public school in Cleveland until he graduated from the eighth grade, when he entered Hyde Park High School in Chicago.  In 1908 he received his Bachelors Degree from the University of Chicago, later entering the seminary and being ordained a priest in 1911 by Bishop Anderson of Chicago.

From 1911 to 1916 he served as an assistant at the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Chicago.  In 1916 hea nd Mary Helen Staley of Detroit, Mich., were united in marriage and continued to make their home in Chicago, where Rev. Crosby served from 1916 to 1926 as the Superintendent of Chicago’s Home for Boys.  In 1926 he and Mrs. Crosby left Chicago going to Annandale, N.Y., on the Hudson River, where he served as Professor and Chaplain at St. Stephens College.  During this period in 1929, he received his Th. D Degree from the Northwestern University at Evanston, Ill.

During the year 1934 - 1935 he served as Superintendent of Howe School at Howe, Indiana.  After leaving Howe he returned to Chicago to serve as Assistant Priest at Cathedral Shelter and on the City Mission Staff.  It was during this time that his wife became ill and passed away and is buried in Chicago.

In 1945 Dr. Crosby left Chicago because of his health, as he was suffering from hay fever, moving to Owen where he found eight years abundant with happiness.

He always said that it was here in Wisconsin that he had found a home.  He loved his work here, the residents of the community, his Church building and Riverside Cemetery.

The community has lost another wonderfully fine citizen, civic worker and spiritual leader, a man whose traits are so badly needed in all communities.

He is survived by one son, John A., a member of the Lecture Department of Geography at the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and a daughter, Mrs. J. G. Morris of Whippoorwill Road, Armonk, N.Y.

Mrs. Morris had been ehre with her father for the past two weeks and his son and daughter-in-law were here visiting with him about a month before he entered the hospital.  John also returned here in time to be with his father for a few hours previous to his death Tuesday evening.