Lt. Gen. John Crosby (Ret.)

Lt. Gen. (ret) John S. Crosby died March 2, 2022 in Highlands Ranch, Colorado at age 89.  Born October 16, 1932 in Jefferson Barracks, MO. to Sgt. Elmer L. Crosby and Viola Faye Crosby, he was preceded in death by his parents.

John grew up in a military family and always knew he wanted to be in the Army.  He attended North Carolina State College in Raleigh and was in the ROTC program and received a B.S. in Civil Engineering.  He later received a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from USC.

In 1951, John met Flo Anne Kendrick at Ft. Bragg, NC where their fathers were stationed. They married in August 1954 and had three children, David Stephen, Leslie Kendrick and Loren Elizabeth.

After graduation, John chose the Field Artillery as his branch of service and was assigned to Ft. Sill, OK., where he spent 3 years.  Thereafter he had assignments at Ft. Hood, TX., and with the 4th Armored Division in Crailsheim, Germany.  He attended the Advanced Course of the Field Artillery at Fort Sill and taught for three years at West Point, NY.  John served in Vietnam as a battalion commander in 1968-1969, and then was assigned to Fort McNair, VA. He attended the Army War College in Carlisle, PA and served as Assistant Chief of Staff of the 101st Airborne Division and Commander of the US Army Garrison at Fort Campbell, KY.   He then served as the commander of Division Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, TX.  Afterward, while on assignment at Fort Sill again in 1977, John was selected to be promoted to Brigadier General.

John’s first assignment as a general officer was as the Director of Personnel Information Systems for the Army in Alexandria, Va.  In 1979 he was sent to Hanau Germany to be the Assistant Division Commander for the 3rd Armored Division.  When he returned to the United States, he was chosen to be the Deputy Chief of Staff of Personnel at Fort McPherson, GA. John was promoted to Major General and was assigned as the commandant at Fort Sill in 1982, the pinnacle of his Army career.  As the CG, he initiated and supervised the early development of several advance field artillery weapons systems, which he was instrumental in fielding. In 1985, he was called to the Pentagon to be the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel. John was promoted to Lt. General in 1987.  He retired from the Army after 35 years of service in 1989.  His retirement ceremony was held at his beloved Fort Sill. John and FloAnne had a wonderful life in retirement and lived in Fairfax Station, Va., where John built a defense contracting business. When they fully retired, they had homes in Bluewater Bay, Florida and Frisco, Colorado.

John was a dedicated soldier and a loving husband and father.  He was gregarious, outgoing, upbeat and always positive.  John never met a stranger.  He was a courageous leader and a mentor to younger officers and he celebrated the successes of his fellow soldiers in their careers.  He loved the Army and the Army life and he loved FloAnne and the family that they built together. John was a lifelong fisherman and spent hours on the lakes in Florida with his father and also fished with his son-in-law and grandsons. He enjoyed hunting with his brother-in-law, Unk Kendrick, and he loved playing golf and skiing with his grandsons. His generous spirit touched everyone who knew him.

John is survived by FloAnne, his wife of 67 years and by his three children, David (Brenda Jane), Leslie (Chuck) and Loren (John) and by his three grandsons, Zachary, (Kristen), Daniel and Wyatt.  He was and is loved, and will be remembered, by his brother-in-law, Unk Kendrick, and by his cousins and nieces and nephews and by many other family members and friends.