Dr. Lawson Bruce CRONK, M.D.C.M., F.R.C.P.C., F.A.C.P, F.A.C.C
March 7, 1923 – January 24, 2015

It is with great sadness that the family of Dr. Lawson Bruce Cronk announces his passing on January 24, 2015 at Belleville, Ontario in his 92nd year. He was predeceased by his dearly beloved parents Dr. George Sampson Cronk and Lillian (Guthrie), and his sister Harriet Simmons.

Bruce was born and raised in Belleville, Ontario. He attended Queen’s University, graduating in Medicine, Class of ’47. Bruce served in the RCAMC in WW II and the RCN(R). From 1947 – 1949 he conducted, on behalf of the Defence Research Board, research in the Eastern Arctic as a member, then leader, of the Queen’s University Arctic Expeditions. While undertaking postgraduate training at the Ottawa Civic Hospital he met his cherished life partner Sylvia Elizabeth Byrnes, and they married in 1949. Bruce continued his medical training, first at Kingston General Hospital, and then at Johns Hopkins Hospital and University, Baltimore, Maryland. He returned to Belleville in 1951 to practice internal medicine, in collaboration with his surgeon father.

Bruce was a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada, a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. During his practicing career he was Chief of Medicine and president of the medical staff of Belleville General Hospital on recurring occasions, and a consultant to the Picton, Trenton, Campbellford, and Cobourg hospitals, as well as the CFB Trenton base hospital. He was Chairman of the Section of Internal Medicine of the Ontario Medical Association in 1965, and from 1980 to 1985 represented District 6 of the Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. He was a member of the Regional Advisory Committee and Committee of Fellowship Affairs, of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He was a life member of the Ontario Medical Association and a Senior Member of the Canadian Medical Association.



Bruce viewed medicine as a ‘calling,’ and firmly believed it could be delivered on no lesser terms. A cornerstone of this philosophy was his tremendous dedication to education and its institutions generally, and medicine in particular. His remarkable support and affection for Queen’s University spanned his adult life. He was permanent president of the Class of Meds ’47, graduating with the Gold medal in Surgery; the W.W. Near and Susan Near Prize for the second highest standing throughout his medical degree program, and the Hanna Washborn Colson Prize for Proficiency in Clinical Diagnosis in Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics. He was president of the Queen’s Aesculapian Society (the undergraduate body of the faculty of Medicine), and a member of the Queen’s Alma Matter executive. He was recipient of the Queen’s Tricolour Society Award and played three seasons with the Golden Gaels football team. He was a member of the Faculty of Medicine as a clinical assistant, then lecturer, then Assistant Professor, from 1953 until his retirement in 1988. He was a life member of the Queen’s Grant Hall Society and a member of the Council of Queen’s University. In 2013 Queen’s established the Dr. Bruce Cronk Distinguished Lecture Series in his honour. This endowed annual event is designed to host eminent scholars involved with all areas of medicine.

Closer to home Bruce served on Loyalist College Board of Governors 1975-1979, and in 1993 was awarded Loyalist College’s highest honour, a Diploma in Applied Arts and Technology. He also served as a member of the Board of Governors of Belleville’s Albert College.

Bruce’s community service extended far beyond the schools with walls. From 1965 to present date Bruce and Sylvia sponsored, through Plan International, young children from countries which spanned the globe. As a long-time member of the Quinte Interfaith Refugee Sponsorship Committee, he was instrumental in bringing and establishing families from Rwanda, Ethiopia, Laos, and Kosovo in the Quinte area. He was a Director of Hospice Quinte and of the Museum of Health Care at Kingston; a Trustee of Bridge Street United Church; and a President of the Quinte Branch of the Canadian Red Cross. He served in Community policing; the Canadian Food Grains Bank; and in 1997-98 as President of the Christian Medical Foundation of Canada. On conclusion of his hospital and office practice in 1988, Bruce spent the ensuing 10 years volunteering his medical skills for 5 to 6 months a year in United Church Health Services hospitals located in Newfoundland and in indigenous communities on the north-west coast of British Columbia. Of this decade Bruce said “it was a wonderful time with wonderful people.”

Bruce made a difference, and it was recognized. In 1978 he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal and in 1987 the Humanitarian Award of the RCAF Association. He received the Sir William Osler Award of the Christian Medical Foundation (International) in 1990, the prestigious Alumni Achievement Award of Queen’s University in 1992, and although not a Rotarian, a Paul Harris Fellowship from the Foundation of Rotary International in 1994. In 1996 he was recognized by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons “for outstanding service to his community” and in 2004 was nominated by the Canadian Blood Service and received the ‘Volunteer 50+ Award’ by the Province of Ontario, for 63 years of volunteer service in blood donor clinics and 181 official blood donations. In 2009 he was one of eleven residents of Ontario to receive the Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship. The citation accompanying this award spoke to his role as a member of a team that pioneered cardiovascular and pulmonary surgery in the Belleville-Kingston area. Bruce was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
Bruce’s hobbies ranged from history, to music, to woodworking, to a number of sports - including bicycling, kayaking, windsurfing, skiing and wilderness canoeing. He paddled the Nahanni, Mountain, Natla, Keele, Hood and Mackenzie rivers in the Northwest Territories, and the Dumoine and other rivers in Quebec and Ontario. In recent years he did confess to being content to paddle flat water.

Bruce will be dearly missed by his loving wife Sylvia; devoted children Anne and her husband Bob Freeland, Robert and his wife Patti (Aspinall), and Michael Sam; eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

The Cronk family wishes to thank all of Bruce’s many close friends and colleagues who have been an intrinsic part of the marvelous life he has led and enjoyed.

Visitation will be held at the John. R. Bush Funeral Home, 80 Highland Avenue, Belleville on Friday, March 6th, 2015 from 1:00p.m. – 7:00p.m. A Celebration of Life ceremony will be held at Bridge Street United Church, Belleville on Saturday, March 7th, 2015 at 2:00p.m. with Rev. David Mundy officiating.


It was his wish that any donations in his memory be made to Bridge St. United Church, Belleville, Doctors Without Borders, or the charity of your choice. Online condolences, www.rushnellfamilyservices.com