“Hey, Doc” was how most greeted him. “A carpenter by trade,” was his typical response.
Born Jan. 3, 1935, Dr. Sellers Luther Crisp was a gifted orthopedic surgeon, an avid cook and gardener, and a lover of learning. He enjoyed attending operas, reading books of history and listening to classical music.
Dr. Crisp was most happy when he was outdoors, sitting in a duck blind, setting drift nets in a rickety rowboat, or only watching the moon over the ocean.
Dr. Crisp, 70, died Thursday, May 5, 2005.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday at the corner of 14th and Elm Streets, where Dr. Crisp maintained a vegetable garden for more than two decades.
The son of Rose Nowell and Sellers Mark Crisp Jr., Dr. Crisp was born in Greenville and educated at Episcopal High School, Davidson College, and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. His medical training continued at Vanderbilt University and Johns Hopkins University.
After serving in the U.S. Navy Medical Corps, he returned to the University of NC to complete his residency. Then, he came back to Greenville, where he was an orthopedic surgeon and a farmer until his retirement.
In 1962, Dr. Crisp married Nelson Blount, also of Greenville.
During their 43 years of marriage, Dr. and Mrs. Crisp shared many joys. They included meals prepared by Dr. Crisp; the births of their three children, Mary Louise Lowe, Sellers Luther Crisp Jr., and Florence Amanda Crisp; playing doubles tennis; skiing (downhill in their younger years and cross-country in their later years); and swimming and sailing.
Dr. Crisp did not consider his family complete without a four-legged companion, generally a mischievous pug. His mornings were incomplete without a humorous exchange with his beloved friend, Carrie Barnes.
He enjoyed traveling to places of historical significance and to visit his seven grandchildren, Caroline, Grace, and Olivia Lowe, Sellers and Shepherd Crisp, and Beatrice and Luke Hruska.
Surviving Dr. Crisp are his wife, children, grandchildren, and Cleo, his pug.
Instead of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Davidson College or the UNC School of Medicine.