C. Deans Crystle came to Franklin & Marshall College fromNether Providence H.S. in Wallingford, Pa. Having contractedparalytic polio in his early childhood, which required a back andleg brace during his growing up years, Deans was unable toparticipate in high school athletics, which he dearly loved. Uponentering F&M, new challenges were presented and the competitivefires began to burn once again. Physically more mature and havinglearned to compensate for his inoperative left leg, Crystle triedout for coach George McGuinness' varsity swimming team. He waswelcomed and quickly made his mark in the Fackenthal Swimming Poolas one of the mentally and physically toughest swimmers torepresent the College.
Utilizing his upper body strength, Crystle swam the freestyle,butterfly, and freestyle relay events. During his F&M career,the team got progressively better and achieved a winning season hissenior year when he was named co-captain. During the spring,Crystle joined the men's lacrosse club as a goalkeeper, one of themost demanding positions on the team. He was instrumental inhelping to move lacrosse from club to varsity status following hisjunior year. He was named MVP of the team following his juniorseason and captain his senior year. In addition to participating ontwo varsity teams, he was also involved in many campus activities.He was president of the Black Pyramid Senior Honor Society, amember of Phi Psi fraternity, a dormitory counselor, and secretaryof the senior class.
He also found time to achieve a 3.7 grade point average and wasnamed Phi Beta Kappa. However, Crystle's greatest honors would comeat the end of his senior year when he was named F&M's"Outstanding Senior Athlete" and Williamson Medalist, givenannually at commencement to the outstanding student in thegraduating class. Crystle graduated from the University ofPennsylvania medical school, did residencies at Ohio State and theNational Institute of Health before accepting academic appointmentsat Ohio State, Georgetown, Penn State, and he National Institute ofHealth.
He returned to Lancaster in 1974 to begin private practice inthe field of obstetrics and gynecology. Recently, he has traveledto the Mid-East to teach and consult at the Nazareth Hospital inNazareth, Israel. He has also been active with many communityorganizations and has been a member of the F&M Lancaster CountyAlumni Association.
