Surgeon W. Craig Thatcher dead at 68
By Mike Danahey mdanahey@stmedianetwork.com February 26, 2013 10:46PM
Dr. W. Craig Thatcher passed away between Monday night and Tuesday morning at his home in St. Charles. | File~Sun-Times Media
Updated: April 1, 2013 7:23AM
Friends and colleagues were mourning the unexpected death of Dr. W. Craig Thatcher, who apparently passed away at his home between Monday night and Tuesday morning.
Thatcher, 68, of St. Charles, specialized in cardiovascular, thoracic and vascular surgery at the Vein and Laser Center of Elgin Cardiac Surgery in the Doctors’ Offices of Sherman Hospital.
According to the center’s website, Thatcher was born in New London, Conn., and received his undergraduate education at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. He attended medical school in Toulouse, France, then went on to Buffalo General Hospital (S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo) for his general surgery residency.
He then came to Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, where he completed a residency in thoracic and cardiovascular Surgery. He spent three years as an instructor in surgery at Loyola University Medical Center before joining Elgin Cardiac Surgery in 1984.
Contacted online, Dr. Dorothea Poulos, stated, “He was a gentleman and a superb colleague. He will be missed.”
Sherman nurse Susan Clarke Mahler stated, “Dr. Thatcher was wonderful. My heart is broken. I’ve had the honor of working with him for many years at Sherman.”
