William Cromwell

Dillman-Scott Funeral Home

William Cromwell, 87, of Paoli, Indiana, passed away on August 1, 2021, at Paoli Health & Living. He was born on September 8, 1933, Corydon, Indiana to Leo Glenn and Elizabeth Dorothy Dannenfelser Cromwell. William married Betty Lou Lam of Paoli, in 1960 and she preceded him in death.

William was a high school graduate of Corydon, Indiana, and an Indiana University graduate. He practiced dentistry for 52 years in Paoli, starting in July of 1958. Immediately after graduation from the Indiana University school of Dentistry, all through his practice, he continued to update his education at the Universities of Colorado, Southern California, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Louisville and in the cities of London and Paris. He served an appointment as Faculty Practitioner at IU School of Dentistry and worked with the externship program in dental assisting at Watterson College in Louisville.

He was a life member of the American Dental Association, past president of the South-Central Dental Association, and served 21 years on the Board of Peer Review of the Indiana Dental Association.

Dr. Cromwell’s interest in helping others led him to participate in Donated Dental Services, which is a project sponsored by organized dentistry to assist patients who are unable to pay for dental care. Nationwide, this project has provided more than 5.5 million dollars’ worth of dental treatment.

For four years, he participated in programs sponsored by Jewish Hospital in Louisville and the American International Health Alliance. He made two trips to St. Petersburg, Russia where he taught in a hospital. As a result of those trips, several Russian dentists and nurses came to his office in Paoli to observe his practice.

His interest in caring for his patients and teaching them good dental health habits, led him to be a founding member of the American Society of Preventive Dentistry.

William was a member of the Paoli United Methodist Church, where he taught one of the adult Sunday School classes for over 30 years and served on committees of the Southern Indiana Church Conference.

Dentistry did not take all his time as he served on the Paoli Community School Board, the Paoli Elementary School Building Corporation, The Paoli Library Board, Paoli Park Board, The Orange County Board of Public Health, and The Advisory Council of the South-Central area Vocational Schools. He was one of the organizers and a director of the former Integra Bank of Paoli.

He was also a past President of the Paoli Chamber of Commerce, Paoli Alliance Club, Paoli, JayCees , Paoli PTA, and the Orange County Society. William served as a director and volunteer for Habitat and Humanity and was a member of the Orange County Chapter of Wabash Valley Association. He also served on the local chapter of Boy Scouts of America. William was a 50-year member of the Masonic Lodge.

William retired in August of 2009. Several of his patients had been seeing him for his entire career. He enjoyed travel, piloting a boat through French canals on three trips with family and friends, and traveling by land throughout Europe on several other trips.

Survivors include:

Son:

Robert Cromwell Ph.D. of West Lafayette

Visitation services will be held from 1:00-4:00 PM, Saturday, September 4, 2021, with a Funeral Service to follow, at Dillman-Scott Funeral Home located at 226 W. Campbell St. Paoli IN 47454.

Family has requested no flowers. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Paoli United Methodist Church.

Online Condolences may be made at www.dillmanscottfuneralhome.com

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