Original headline with this Herald story: Othello rancher’s
legacy and good works live on
By Emry Dinman, Columbia
Basin Herald, Moses Lake, Oct 17, 2019
OTHELLO — As a sophomore
at Bellevue High School in the late ’50s, William “Bill” Crosetto was riding in
a bus during a class field trip when he passed by the small town of Othello.
He said to himself, “If
there really is a God, he’d stick me in a place like Othello.”
As a teenager used to
living in what was even then a relatively lively suburb recently connected to
nearby Seattle, he meant it dismissively at the time, as though only divine
punishment could bring him into that quiet, sagebrush-knotted desert.
The Vietnam War changed
his mind.
Deployed as part of the
Army Reserves, Crosetto watched as his friends, just kids, died around him.
After the chaos of war, he had little interest in returning to Bellevue, where
he would be easily noticed.
His family there, after
all, was highly visible.
Crosetto’s father was a
standout runner for the WSU track team and competed for a spot at the 1932
Olympics in Los Angeles. An uncle, Fred “Hutch” Hutchinson, was a renowned
baseball player for the Detroit Tigers and manager for three teams, including
the 1964 Cincinnati Reds, before he died as a result of lung cancer.
The other, Dr. William
Hutchinson, was a well-known surgeon, cancer researcher and the founder of the
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, which he named after his brother Fred.
After the war, in a time
with little treatment for PTSD and common criticism for the soldiers who had
come back from the jungle, Crosetto wanted a quieter life. He wanted wide, open
country. He wanted Othello.
Crosetto went to work on
his father’s blueberry farm in 1967 before purchasing a cattle ranch just
outside of town. He would also eventually farm beans, corn and alfalfa, but the
cattle were what got him out of bed every morning.
As a cattle rancher,
Crosetto did quite well for himself, earning an income that was juxtaposed with
a conservative lifestyle in a modest home. In this way, he was able to grow a
sizable estate over decades.
Crosetto never married or
had children and as he got on in years, retiring from ranching after a heart
attack, he began to wonder what could be accomplished with his money.
He turned to
philanthropy. A devout Catholic, one of Crosetto’s first donations was to the
Catholic Charities Spokane House of Charity, an emergency homeless shelter that
is regularly full.
An avid hunter and
conservationist, some of the retired rancher’s greatest passions was protecting
the habitat of wildlife, particularly of upland game birds such as the sage
grouse.
The Chelan-Douglas Land
Trust was able to secure the transfer of land that would become the Spiva Butte
Nature Preserve, which serves as habitat for the threatened bird species, with
a $100,000 contribution from Crosetto. Today, a four-acre body of water in the
middle of the reserve is known as Crosetto Lake.
The PBS Nature channel is
sponsored by Crosetto, and he took delight at turning on the television and
knowing that the show would be supported throughout its lifetime by his gift,
said PJ Watters, director of gift planning with the Innovia Foundation. Watters
had worked with Crosetto to help coordinate his charitable giving and create
endowment funds.
A convert to rural
America, Crosetto’s charitable giving was also centered on the communities he
found such great affinity with. The William A. Crosetto Civic Leadership Fund
was created to provide $70,000 to be used to benefit rural communities.
This year, 10 rural
councils are being formed by the Innovia Foundation to review local community
needs throughout 20 rural counties and award grants to address local needs.
Applications are being accepted now for people interested in serving on those
councils. Applications are available online at Innovia.org.
Influenced by his uncle’s
work in medicine, Crosetto also made major donations to support healthcare in
rural communities.
Washington State
University, where both Crosetto and his father attended school, unveiled a
mobile healthcare unit in mid-October designed to bring physicians directly to
rural communities. A prototype was funded by Crosetto, as well as a $500,000
endowment to help fund operations, and the first unit to hit the streets was
named for the man that helped make the project happen.
Another million dollar
fund, the William A. Crosetto Rural Residency Fund, will help incentivize
graduate medical students to pursue residencies in rural communities, improving
the likelihood that they will consider spending their careers in those places.
Though he often engaged
with the projects he helped to fund, Crosetto won’t get to see that fund make
its first distribution this fall.
At age 75, Crosetto died
Jan. 25, 2018 in hospice care after struggling with several medical
complications related to malignant melanoma. The great irony, said Watters, is
that the skin cancer that killed him, common among farmers, would have been
very treatable if it had been discovered early.
Now that early detection
will be far more likely for future farmers served by the mobile healthcare unit
bearing Crosetto’s name.
Courtesy photos which appeared with this Herald article:
- Othello rancher William ‘Bill’ Crosetto left behind a legacy of love for rural Washington.
- Bill Crosetto at his ranch.
Other photos:
- Bill Crosetto fishing, (KXLY website)
- William A. Crosetto Mobile Health Care Unit (WSU News)
::::
Obituary of
William "Bill" Albert Crosetto
From Stevens Funeral Chapel, Othello
William "Bill"
Crosetto, 75, of Othello, Washington, passed away Jan. 25, 2018. He was born in
Seattle, Washington on Nov.29, 1942. He grew up in Seattle and Bellevue.
When he was a sophomore
at Bellevue High School in the late 1950's he passed through Othello,
Washington during a class field trip thinking "If there really is a God,
He'd stick me in a place like Othello."
Bill graduated from
Bellevue High School, class of 1960. He enrolled in Washington State University
in Pullman, Washington, and excelled in the subject of Agronomy and he was a
standout on the WSU track team!
He bought a farm in
Othello in 1967 and became a cattle rancher. He also grew alfalfa, corn, and
other crops. He was a true outdoor man who taught kids to fish and learn how to
make duck calls.
Bill was a member of the
Catholic Church, the Lion's Club, a proud supporter of 4H and the PBS Nature
channel. He was kind, patient and soft spoken. He will be dearly missed by many
friends and relatives.
Bill was preceded in
death by his parents, Albert and Mary Crosetto.
Viewing will be held from
9:30 am to 10:30 am, Wed. Feb.7, 2018 at Stevens Funeral Chapel in Othello.
Catholic Mass will be held at 11:00 am, Wed., Feb 7, 2018 at the Sacred Heart
Catholic Church also in Othello.
As per his wishes, burial
will follow at Laurel Hill Memorial Cemetery in Cle Elum, Washington at 2:00 pm
on Wed. Feb.7, 2018.
WSU College of
Medicine launches Range Health
From WSU News, Oct 9, 2019
SPOKANE– On Oct. 9, 2019, the Washington State University Elson
S. Floyd College of Medicine announced launch of Range Health, a non-profit
academic health network designed to bring health care to Washington’s rural and
underserved areas.
The College of Medicine also unveiled the William A. Crosetto
Mobile Health Care Unit, the network’s first traveling health clinic.
Named for its intent to deliver care to all of Washington’s 39
counties with a nod to its rural emphasis, Range Health is a separate 501(c)(3)
entity in partnership with WSU and the College of Medicine.
The organization will provide prevention and wellness
strategies, as well as treatment to patients across the state, focusing on
communities where health care is limited. Leveraging its network of doctors,
nurses and pharmacists, Range Health will increase access to health care while
serving as a training ground for future doctors and health care providers.
“From the earliest days of the College of Medicine, we
envisioned a time when we would not only educate medical students to become
doctors in our rural and underserved communities but create new ways of
delivering health care to the people of our state,” said John Tomkowiak,
founding dean of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and chair of the board
and ex officio director of Range Health.
“Range Health fulfills this vision and, while there is a lot of
work ahead to scale up, extend our reach and expand our offerings, we’re
excited to take our first steps toward serving the communities that need us
most.”
Range Health launches with its first mobile medical unit named
for William A. Crosetto, a cattle rancher from Othello who passed away in
January 2018. Known to friends as Bill, he worked with Innovia Foundation to
create the William A. Crosetto Charitable Foundation to support medical
education and rural health among other philanthropic interests.
His legacy lives on in the William A. Crosetto Mobile Health
Care Unit, which will travel to rural and underserved communities to provide
comprehensive primary care, urgent care procedures, and preventive screening
for conditions such as diabetes, cholesterol, pregnancy, STDs, asthma and more.
The unit is slated to begin providing services in January 2020.
As a Washington State College runner who went on to compete in
the Olympics, Bill’s father had a significant impact on his life, but he was
most proud of the legacies established by his uncles, Fred Hutchison, a famous
baseball player and Dr. William Hutchinson, who founded the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center as well as the Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research
Institute.
“Bill was proud of his family’s legacy but often felt he lived
in the shadow of his uncles, and yet his generosity in our region will have
just as deep of an impact,” said Shelly O’Quinn, CEO of Innovia Foundation.
“Bill wanted to ensure rural residents would have access to doctors in their
hometown. His legacy will allow people to age in place in the communities they
love.”
Led by executives from the colleges of Medicine, Nursing and
Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Range Health and the William A. Crosetto
Mobile Health Care Unit will initially focus on care from doctors and medical
students with plans to expand across all health sciences disciplines in the
future.
“Humankind is demanding solutions that support modern health
care needs. Health care must be reimagined. With Range Health, we’re signaling
steps taken to our larger vision of WSU Health—our initiative to advance health
care across the Pacific Northwest,” said Daryll DeWald, WSU Health Sciences
vice president and chancellor. “As education becomes more and more a critical component
of health, WSU Health Sciences is uniquely equipped to embrace modern health
care needs.”
True to its emphasis on bringing care to communities, Range
Health will take its mobile unit on tour across the state in October. Sponsored
by Banner Bank, the tour will travel to the college’s clinical campus sites in
Vancouver, Everett and Tri-Cities where third-year medical students are now
based full time for clinical training. All community members are encouraged to
attend the tour events to see the mobile unit, meet locally based WSU students,
and hear from WSU and Banner Bank leadership.
“It is our pleasure to partner with WSU to bring this tour to
each of their clinical campus communities,” said Mark Grescovich, President
& CEO of Banner Bank. “Like WSU, Banner Bank serves communities all across
Washington, including many rural areas that will directly benefit from the
mobile medical care unit. We are excited to help shine a light on the important
work of the medical school and Range Health.”
For more information visit the Range
Health website:
