Krabill, Willard S. (1926-2009)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2009 Jan 12 p. 12

Birth date: 1926

text of obituary:

Goshen physician, health pioneer dies

Krabill helped church confront issues of medical ethics

By Goshen College staff

GOSHEN, Ind. — Willard S. Krabill, Goshen College physician emeritus and associate professor emeritus of health education, who gave 24 years of service to the college, died Jan. 6 after a six-month battle with cancer. He was 82.

Krabill was a pioneer in the areas of medical ethics, public health, family-centered childbirth and sex education.

He worked as a consultant for Mennonite Mutual Aid and helped the church community confront issues like sexuality, abortion and medical ethics. He was a key figure in the production of the congregational study book, Medical Ethics, Human Choices, and wrote a column for Mennonite Weekly Review for 10 years. He was passionate about the need for universal health care for everyone in the country.

"Dr. Krabill's death is a loss not only for his family and the Goshen College community, but also for Elkhart County and the many patients, physicians and nurses whose lives were enriched by his leadership and many contributions," said Goshen President James E. Brenneman.

Krabill expanded the College Health Services, was instrumental in creating a health plan for college employees, worked faithfully to promote health and sexuality education and disease prevention, and brought his healing touch to students who visited the Health Center.

In 1974, Krabill started a human sexuality class to emphasize the holistic nature of sexuality, encouraging students to see sexuality in the context of their whole lives and enabling them to discuss it comfortably. When he retired in 1991, it was the most popular class on campus.

Henry D. Weaver, provost emeritus and professor emeritus of chemistry, remembered Krabill as a creative leader.

"Dr. Krabill was always a step ahead of the crowd, whether it was helping to design an employee's health plan for Goshen College before such plans or HMOs were common or his innovative teaching," Weaver said.

Krabill assisted in the delivery of 2,730 babies and led the movement in Goshen to make birthing a family experience. Long before it was common nationwide, he urged Goshen General hospital to bring fathers into the delivery rooms and allow babies to remain in the same rooms with their mothers, a practice the hospital began in 1969.

He was the first physician in Goshen to employ a nurse practitioner and the first doctor to offer expectant parent education.

Krabill was born and raised in L9uisville, Ohio. As a conscientious objector during World War II, he served in Civilian Public Service as a smokejumper in the Pacific Northwest and then at the Ypsilanti State mental Hospital in Michigan, where his interest in human anatomy was nurtured.

He graduated from Goshen College in 1949 and from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1953. He also received a master's degree in public health from the University of California at Berkley, which led him to look at the body in a more holistic way rather than just being a "disease treater."

After medical school, Krabill took over a family practice of H. Clare Amstutz in Goshen. As his practice grew, a group of physicians developed called the High Park Physicians Inc. One feature of the group was to allow partners to take sabbaticals supported by those who remained at home in practice. One of Krabill's sabbatical was spent in residence in obstetrics in Oak Park, Ill., followed by three months as a relief physician at Mennonite Christian Hospital in Hualian, Taiwan.

Krabill and his wife, Grace, had also done three years of service work in Vietnam with Mennonite Central Committee. He delivered his own first child there since they were doing relief work in a jungle leprosarium and he was the only doctor within hundreds of miles.

In 1988, he earned the Allen H. Erb award from the Mennonite Health Association for his guidance in promoting congregational health ministries. In 1990, Mennonite Medical Association named him Doctor of the Year. He served as the organization's executive secretary from 1992 to 1996. he also served on the boards of Goshen General Hospital and the Anabaptist Center for Healthcare Ethics; on ethics committees of Goshen General Hospital, Greencroft Retirement Center and College Mennonite Church; and on the American Medical Association's committee on religion and medicine.

"He was a wonderful role model," said Anne Hershberger, his sister and associate professor emerita of nursing at Goshen. "He tried to always think of a better way of doing things. He'll be remembered as a compassionate, gentle, caring and competent man."

Krabill married Grace Hershberger on July 31, 1955, and they had four children: Merrill Krabill, Goshen professor of art; Jeannie Miller of Goshen; Karen Krabill of Mason, Mich.; and Ron Krabill of Seattle; and nine grandchildren. Two sisters, Anne Hershberger and Ina Ruth Breckbill, both of Goshen, are also still living.

A memorial service was scheduled for Jan. 9 at College Mennonite Church. His ashes will be scattered at the memorial garden at College Mennonite Church.

Memorials may be given to Goshen College or the Goshen General Hospital Care at Home & Hospice Services.