CRUDEM Founder, Dr. Theodore J. Dubuque, Jr. 1927 – 2018

It is with great sadness that The CRUDEM Foundation reports the passing of our beloved founder, Dr. Theodore “Ted” Dubuque, Jr. on June 30, in St. Louis.

When Dr. Dubuque, a highly-regarded St. Louis surgeon, recovered from a near-fatal illness in the early eighties, he looked for a way “to express my gratitude for the gift of life.” Ted’s extraordinary vision and compassion led to his arrival in Milot, Haiti in 1985, the beginning of The CRUDEM Foundation, and the plan for success for Hôpital Sacré Coeur.

Theodore J. Dubuque, Jr., MD, 1927 – 2018

Theodore J. Dubuque, Jr., MD, 1927 – 2018

Bowled over by the intensive poverty and impressed by the dignity, resourcefulness and welcoming, good spirit of the Haitian people, Ted made it his life’s calling to turn a 6-bed Milot clinic into a quality medical facility. Today, Hôpital Sacré Coeur stands as one of Haiti’s premier private hospitals and most notable success stories. The 200 bed, tertiary care hospital services a community of over 250,000 adults and children with critically needed quality healthcare and is a major employer and economic driver for the region. The abundant, transformative, life-saving fruits of one St. Louisan’s vision and determination are evident everywhere one looks in northern Haiti.

Ted would be the first to say that he alone was not responsible for all the accomplishments; God and an ever-increasing community of supporters paved the way and continue to sustain the hospital. But we all know that Ted’s vision, determination and devout faith helped shape and inform this mission for over 30 years.

Remarkable. Extraordinary. Inspiring. Visionary. Kind and humble beyond measure. All words that aptly describe Ted. His own faith tradition perhaps describes him best: Ted truly lived up to the Jesuit ideal of being “a man for others.”

We will miss him.


You can read Dr. Dubuque’s obituary below.


Theodore Julien Dubuque Jr., M.D. died Saturday June 30th, 2018.

Born in St. Louis December 8, 1927, he was the son of the late Theodore Sr. and Frances Dubuque.

Dr. Dubuque was the beloved husband of Carol Stephens Dubuque for more than 60 years. He is survived by his children Sally Gordon (Fitz),Charles (Tina), Philip (Patricia),Paul (Lauren), and Louis Dubuque (Mary) and fourteen grand children – Sarah, Lauren, Charles,Grace, Elise, Hope, Claire, Caroline, Emily, Julia, Catherine,Anne, Teddy and Matthew. He is the brother of Frances Barrett (the late Robert), the late Margaret Butler (Wilbur), and the late Elise Murray (Eugene).

Dr. Dubuque graduated from St. Louis University School of Medicine in 1952 and completed his surgical training at the University in 1957. He then served two years in the U.S. Army as Chief of Surgery at Ft. Benjamin Harrison Hospital in Indiana. After returning to St. Louis, he practiced surgery, primarily at St. Mary’s, Cardinal Glennon and St. Louis University Hospitals. He was Professor of Clinical Surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine and Director of Department of Surgery at St.Mary’s from 1962 to 1981. He was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery, a member of Alpha Omega Honor Medical Society and the Western Surgical Association as well as a member and past President of the St. Louis Surgical Society. Dr. Dubuque was also a past board member of the Catholic Medical Mission Board in New York and the American Association of the Order of Malta.

Between 1986-7, he spent six months as a volunteer surgeon at Hopital Sacre Coeur in Milot, Haiti and established the operating room there. The mission, called Project Crudem, included the hospital and was started by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. When the Brothers could no longer support the hospital, Dr. Dubuque and his friend, St. Louisan Carlos Reese, took over management and financial responsibility by forming the charitable Crudem Foundation in 1993. The hospital has become a premier health care provider in Haiti, gradually expanding from an original six beds o more than 200. Hopital Sacre Coeur was named one of the 100 Projects of the Holy Father for the Year of Charity, 1999 by Pope John Paul II.

Dr. Dubuque was given the Servitor Pacis Award by the Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations. He received the Surgical Volunteerism Award by the American College of Surgeons, the Alumni Award for Service to Humankind by St. Louis University, the Peter Richard Kenrick Award by KenrickGlennon Seminary, and the Backer Award by St. Louis University High. He was a Knight of Malta and was awarded the Grand Cross of Merit and the Cross of Grand Officer.

Services: The Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Francis de Sales Oratory, 2653 Ohio Ave., St. Louis, on Tuesday, July 10 10:00 a.m. Interment Private.

The family will receive friends at THE LUPTON CHAPEL, 7233 Delmar Blvd., University City, on Monday from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. Memorials may be made to The Crudem Foundation, P.O. Box 804, Ludlow, MA 01056 (www.crudem.org) or St. Francis de Sales Oratory, 2653 Ohio Ave., St. Louis, MO 63118.

A SERVICE OF THE LUPTON CHAPEL