Edward Filmore Crippen, M.D., M.P.H.

1921-2009
A child of the depression, veteran of World War II and a member of the “Greatest Generation,”
in the truest sense, Edward Filmore Crippen, passed away in Ann Arbor, MI, on Friday,
November 13, 2009, in the company of his beloved family and friends. He was born November
9, 1921, in Lansing Michigan. He was the second child of Margaret Jane (Aldrich) and Glenn
Lawrence Crippen. He graduated from high school in 1939 in Lansing, MI. He attended
Michigan State University and graduated with a B.S. in chemistry in 1943. Shortly thereafter he
was inducted into the U.S. Army and trained in anti-aircraft artillery. He served in the Philippine
Islands Campaign of World War II and was honorably discharged in 1946. (He later achieved
Lt. Colonel status in the USAR-MC Active Reserve in 1975.) In 1946, he entered medical
school at the University of Michigan and graduated with a Doctor of Medicine in June, 1950.
One summer during his studies he met his wife-to-be, Kathryn Mae Simmons, at Mackinaw City.
They married in Ann Arbor, MI, on June 19, 1948. He did his medical internship at Butterworth
Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI. He began private practice in Mancelona, MI, in 1951. Besides
his regular office hours he made many, many house calls--practicing medicine as a typical small
town doctor of that time period. Then, from 1960-1961, he returned to the University of
Michigan to study at the School of Public Health. He received his M.P.H. with the intent to enter
the field of international health. (He later achieved specializations in International Primary Care
Programs, Geriatrics, Preventive Medicine and International Health. He was board certified in
Preventive Medicine and Family Practice.) Shortly after graduating he went to work for the
International Cooperation Administration of the U.S. State Department and was assigned to be
Co-director of Public Health in Cap Haitien in northern Haiti from 1961-1962. Political
instability forced the U.S. project out of Haiti. In 1962, he was reassigned to the Health Division
of the U.S. Agency for International Development and, from 1963-64, he served as Chief of the
Public Health Division to the country of Nepal. While there he identified a smallpox outbreak
and was instrumental in assembling the manpower, transportation and dry vaccine to avert a
major epidemic. After returning to the U.S., he became the Mobile County Health Officer,
Mobile, AL. In 1967, he accepted a position as Deputy Commissioner of Health for the city of
Detroit. He then took a position as State Health Officer for the State of Nevada. Next he moved
his family to Los Angeles to serve as Western Regional Medical Director for Gulf Oil
Corporation. Later, desiring a more simple life, he established a family practice in St. Helens,
OR. It was shortly thereafter that he bought his beloved apple and pear orchard in the Hood
River Valley. He used Hood River as a home base for his medical/public health consultant work
traveling all over the U.S. and the world: Togo, Africa; Korea; Morocco; U.S. NOAA Research
Ship; Comoros Islands; Israel; and Haiti. He made many, many friends all over the world.
Lastly, he retired back to Mancelona, MI. He was a proud member of the Descendents of the
Mayflower Society of Michigan. His roots trace back to Mayflower passengers Edward Fuller
and Myles Standish. He was preceded in death by his parents and his oldest brother, Frank. He
is survived by his devoted wife, Cassie (Kathryn); his siblings, Frederick Crippen (Winnetka,
CA), and Jeanne Donahue (E. Lansing, MI); his children, Janie Knieper (Saline, MI), Edward
Crippen (Mt. Hood, OR), Frederick Crippen (Ridgefield, WA), Joel Crippen (W. Palm
Beach,FL), Ember Diez (Berkeley, CA), and John Crippen (Seattle, WA); and their loving
spouses and children, grandchildren, cousins and many dear and close friends. He has been
cremated and a memorial service and military burial will take place in the summer (to be
announced). A memorial website will be available at http://www.niefuneralhomes.com where
notes can be left in his memory. In lieu of flowers he would have wanted donations made to the
Mancelona Historical Society, P. O. Box 103, Mancelona, MI 49659; the Veterans
Administration Ann Arbor Healthcare System, 2215 Fuller Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 or the
United Methodist Church, Mancelona, MI 49659.