Necrology

David Lloyd Rosencrans '44

Mar. 25, 1922-Dec. 4, 2005

David Lloyd Rosencrans ’44, who practiced general surgery in the Pittsburgh area for more than 30 years, was born in Sayre, PA, on March 25, 1922. A son of Lloyd C. and Martha Meredith Rosencrans, he grew up in Towanda, PA, and attended Towanda High School, where he became president of the Student Council. Following his graduation in 1940, Dave Rosencrans came to Hamilton. He joined Psi Upsilon, lent his voice to the Choir, and went out for swimming as a member of Hamilton’s first varsity team. Chosen president of the freshman class and elected to Quadrangle and DT, he was graduated, in September 1943, thanks to a wartime accelerated program.

Drafted into World War II military service that year, Dave Rosencrans was sent under U.S. Army auspices to the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. He served his internship and residency at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh, and was awarded his M.D. degree in 1947. On July 17, 1948, while a surgical resident, he was married to Barbara Allen in Montclair, NJ.

Called back into the Army in 1951, following the outbreak of the Korean conflict, Dr. Rosencrans, with the rank of first lieutenant, served on the surgical staff of Army hospitals in Germany and France. After two years in uniform, he completed his surgical residency and established his practice in 1956 in the Pittsburgh suburb of Kittanning, where he became president of the medical staff of Armstrong County Memorial Hospital. In 1964, he transferred his practice to Pittsburgh and there served as president of the St. Francis Hospital medical staff. He spent six mornings a week in the operating room and years later looked back at that time of his life as exceptionally happy and productive.

A strong advocate of the use of seatbelts in automobiles long before they gained any acceptance, Dave Rosencrans had installed them in his own car in 1954. He helped mobilize local support for their use in the face of much resistance. While serving as president of the Armstrong County Medical Society, he took the lead in efforts to immunize all the county’s children against polio, and as president of the county chapter of the American Cancer Society, he helped publicize the risks of breast cancer by speaking about it countless times to women’s groups.

In 1983, plagued by physical problems, Dave Rosencrans retired from his surgical practice. After a busy life as a surgeon, he had difficulty coping with retirement. However, he kept occupied for a time as a volunteer teacher at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and later as an active member of Fox Chapel Presbyterian Church. He served the church as an elder, treasurer, and choir member, and helped install its first computer database system. For relaxation he enjoyed classical music and opera, and for exercise he was fond of snow-shoeing.

David L. Rosencrans, a faithful alumnus who was ever grateful to Hamilton for adding “breadth and depth” to his life and imbuing him with “an unrelenting quest for knowledge,” was residing in a retirement community in the Pittsburgh suburb of Oakmont when he died on December 4, 2005, following a stroke. In addition to his wife of 57 years, he is survived by two sons, Alan S. and Andrew L. Rosencrans, who were happily adopted by Dave and Barbara Rosencrans as infants. Also surviving are six grandchildren and a brother, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Evan W. Rosencrans.

 

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