Frank Samuel Crosswhite |
| Posted 2008-12-27 by Judy Wight Branson |
| The Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Monday, December 22, 2008 Frank Samuel Crosswhite, 68, a former Prescott resident and graduate of Prescott High School, died Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 at St. Luke's Hospital in Phoenix after a long illness. Dr. Crosswhite was Curator of Botany at the Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum, near Superior, for over 30 years, and he was known for his popular, instructive Arboretum tours and his scholarly work in botany, Southwestern ecology and history of botany. After retirement in 2002, he moved to Queen Valley, but he especially valued his time in Yavapai County, where he used to hike and fish. A memorial service will be 3 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2008 at Gold Canyon United Methodist Church. Dr. Crosswhite was born September 23, 1940, in Atchison, Kansas, but moved to Arizona in 1948 and graduated from Arizona State University. After receiving his doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin, where he taught botany, he returned to Arizona as the Boyce Thompson Curator and held faculty status at the University of Arizona. He greatly expanded the Arboretum's programs, developed its popular plant sales and was often a researcher and guest speaker around the state and elsewhere. He was an expert on the cultural significance of native plants used by indigenous peoples of the American Southwest. He was the founding editor of the scholarly journal Desert Plants, which he produced for over 10 years, and was the first president and charter member of the Arizona Native Plants Society. As a taxonomist, he identified new plant species, which bear his name and contributed to the development of several large university Herbaria. He was a leading expert on Penstemon (beardtongue) and also wrote extensively about cacti and other succulents as well as botanical history. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Carol Diane (Chaney) Crosswhite of Queen Valley, who served with him as Curator of Zoology at the Arboretum; two sons Marcus A. Crosswhite of Tucson, and Jason A. Crosswhite of Queen Valley; a daughter Dr. Katherine M. Crosswhite (Beasley) of Houston; a grandson, Joshua Luke Beasley of Houston; and a sister, Dr. Virginia Crosswhite Barnes of Pullman, Wash. Information provided by survivors. |
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