Omar D. Crothers III ’63

Chip, a prominent Portland, Maine, surgeon who helped start a center for orthopedics as well as a place for skiers  

with disabilities, died May 17, 2013, of complications from heart surgery.

Arriving at Princeton from McDonogh School in Baltimore, Chip majored in biology, played four years of lacrosse, and ate at Cottage. He roomed senior year with Dick Jones and Dave Bryson.

After medical school at the University of Maryland, Chip earned a reputation as one of the leading hip surgeons in New England, performing more than 3,000 operations. He stopped surgery in his 50s due to heart problems and turned to medical administration. Later he became a non-operating medical orthopedist at Orthopedic Associates, which he co-founded.

Inspired in the early 1980s, by seeing his young patient with cerebral palsy skimming down a slope, he tirelessly helped create Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation on land donated by a resort. It has brought joy to the lives of thousands, and in 2011 the Maine Ski Hall of Fame inducted him.

Some of Chip’s ashes are scattered on land beneath the feet of children learning to ski. Surviving are his children, W. Sean Crothers, Lauren Crothers Simard, Mary Crothers Stone, Jacob “Gus” Crothers, and Elizabeth Kanha Crothers Stockford; and six grandchildren.