Dr. Duane J. Kerscher Sr.

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

Dr. Duane J. Kerscher, Sr., a physician who in his long practice delivered babies, made house calls, and during a historic blizzard traveled via snowmobile to see his hospital patients, died Oct. 29 at the Manor of Perrysburg nursing home. He was 92.

He had been in declining health, his family said.

Dr. Kerscher, an osteopathic physician, retired from practice in 1995 and a career that spanned five decades.

In 2004, he received a city of Maumee "Hometown Hero" award. Son Dave said in nominating him that Dr. Kerscher had "unselfishly given many professional and private hours of his own time to numerous city organizations and civic causes for the benefit of the city of Maumee, as well as hundreds of its fine past and present citizens, some spanning over four generations."

Still, the hometown hero didn't regard himself as such.

"I did what I did because I was having fun, practicing medicine and taking care of people," Dr. Kerscher told The Blade in 2004.

An enduring assignment as physician to the stars arrived through a patient who was a Toledo Sports Arena manager. Performers had started to require in their contracts that a medical doctor and chiropractor be present. Dr. Kerscher's experience in medicine and in spinal manipulation fit the bill. He also served that role at what is now Savage Arena and the Stranahan Theater.

"We'd get to go backstage, which was super awesome," his daughter, Lisa Kerscher, said.

When Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Barry Manilow, Chicago, and Yes performed, he was there. He was summoned backstage because Jimmy Page, then of the supergroup The Firm, complained of a sore throat. The doctor concluded the guitarist had strep and wrote a prescription, which a runner had filled at a nearby pharmacy.

Dr. Kerscher enjoyed the shows and just liked being around people. His children said that he offered the same directive to stars who smoked as any other smoker: Quit.

Dr. Jack Williams was an intern at the former Parkview Hospital in Toledo's Old West End in 1967 when he first met Dr. Kerscher.

"Everyone looked upon him favorably," said Dr. Williams, also an osteopath. "He ended up as chief of staff of the hospital and as president of the [Ohio] Osteopathic Association."

Dr. Kerscher, Dr. Williams, and Dr. Leighton Webber were practice partners for years.

"He would never take a day off that he didn't have to. He was willing to cover for his partners if they needed time off," Dr. Williams said. "We had a very good three-partner relationship – no quarrels, no problems, either business-wise or friendship-wise."

Manipulative therapy was his forte, Dr. Williams said. In the 1970s, Dr. Kerscher trained in acupuncture with a Chinese doctor in Florida. He found multiple applications for the ancient technique, including as an aid to help patients quit smoking and as a form of anesthesia when, for instance, operating on a patient with a cut hand.

"He was very curious and wanted to learn about anything he could," his son Dave said.

During the Blizzard of 1978 and its aftermath, he traveled by snowmobile to Parkview and to St. Luke's Hospital in Maumee, and dropped off nurses at patients' homes.

He treated multiple members across generations of some families.

"He was so proud of that fact. He felt almost part of the family," son Dave said.

His son Jeff said that he and his brothers have had the same experience: Someone heard the last name and asked, "'Are you one of Doc Kerscher's boys?'"

Inevitably that patient or family member offered praise of his care.

"He became well known for diagnosing problems that other doctors could not put their fingers on," his son Jeff said. "He was good at observing details. He would pick up on things. He was interested in people."

He was born Jan. 8, 1930, in the then-new Toledo Hospital on North Cove Boulevard to Lucille and Cletus Kerscher. He grew up in Monclova Township, to which he later returned with his wife and children. He was an Eagle Scout and a 1948 graduate of the former Monclova High School, where he played baseball, football, and basketball.

He played French horn in the Ohio State University marching band. He and the band were in the 1950 Tournament of Roses parade and on the field at the Rose Bowl, where the Big Ten champion Buckeyes defeated the California Golden Bears. He had bachelor's and master's degrees from Ohio State.

Before his younger sister, Joan, died of cancer at age 19, "she asked him to go into medicine, to help people," Ms. Kerscher said.

He wasn't accepted at Ohio State's medical school, but was admitted to the Kirksville College of Osteopathy and Surgery in Missouri, as it was then known.

"He looked at that as a blessing, because the approach of osteopathic medicine was broader than being an MD," son Jeff said. "He was always open to exploring new ways to help patients."

He was a 1957 graduate of Kirksville and joined the Parkview Hospital staff in 1958.

Dr. Kerscher for a time owned, bred, and showed quarter horses. He had been a partner of the former Lum's restaurant in Toledo.

His outlook was optimistic, that every day was a gift, son Dave said.

"He lived his life that way," he said.

He and his wife, the former Winnifred Spohn, married in June, 1954. She died July 24, 2014.

Surviving are his sons, Dr. Duane J. Kerscher, Jr., David Kerscher, and Jeffrey Kerscher; daughter, Lisa Kerscher; five grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; a great-granddaughter; and six step-great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Friday at the Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home in Maumee. A funeral Mass will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Joseph Church, Maumee.

The family suggests tributes to St. Joseph Church, Maumee, where he was a member, or the Monclova Historical Society.