Browse the obituary of William Storz D December 15 2022 residing in Walnut Creek, California for funeral burial details. Write a message of sympathy or a last tribute to perpetue the friendship thread
December 15 2022
Obituary Please share a memory of William to include in a keepsake book for family and friends. View Tribute Book William John Storz, M.D. Captain, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy (Ret.), passed away at home in Walnut Creek, CA on December 15th, 2022 at the age of 91 years. He was born in New York, N.Y. on April 4, 1931 to Ann (Byrne) Storz and William J. Storz. He grew up in Rego Park, Queens, and spent summers in Point Lookout, Long Island, where he met the love of his life, Eileen (Walsh) Storz, when they were seven years old. He wove a ring out of beach grass and told her he was going to marry her. He attended Regis High School in Manhattan, an all-scholarship Jesuit school, where his academic and athletic success earned him a scholarship to Georgetown University as the first ever pre-med basketball player. Bill continued dating Eileen throughout college and they were married on May 30, 1955 after his second year of medical school at New York Medical College. Their family grew quickly with the birth of three daughters and a son. He interned with the Cornell Surgical Division at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, and became the Chief Resident in Neurosurgery. He worked as a surgeon in Manhattan for a short time, but quickly grew tired of the administrative part of private practice, preferring to spend all of his time at the operating table. He entered active naval service in 1963, serving as a general surgeon at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, N.H. and then in Portsmouth, VA. Bill served in the Vietnam War on Surgical Team ACTA-CTF 76 WESTPAC, on a LPH helicopter landing platform ship, from 1967 to 1968, where he was the general triage surgeon for a year, including handling 495 casualties in three days from an 1,800 troop Marine Reinforced Battalion sent into the DMZ during the Tet Offensive. He operated for 72 hours straight, including while the ship was being bracketed by shells. In 1970 Bill and family moved to San Diego where he completed a fellowship in Cardiothoracic surgery and served at the Balboa Naval Regional Medical Center. His next posting was as the Chief of Surgery at Great Lakes Naval Regional Medical Center, which provided a reason for another epic cross-country sightseeing tour in the family station wagon, complete with visits to National Parks and carefully diagrammed plans to tetris the suitcases in the Volkswagen that was being towed. Bill then became the Chief of Surgery at the Oakland, CA, Naval Regional Medical Center. After 14 moves, Walnut Creek, CA became their permanent home, and Bill and Eileen could finally settle down in one beautiful place. Bill retired from the Navy in 1983 as a Captain and was awarded numerous decorations, medals, and citations for his work as a practicing physician, hospital administrator and medical educator. He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, two Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V”, Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces Meritorious Unit Citation (Gallantry Cross with Palm), and the Navy Commendation Medal with Gold Star. After his retirement from the Navy, he joined Kaiser Permanente in Martinez, CA., as a surgeon and continued as a general and Cardiothoracic surgeon until his retirement in 1996. The staff surgeons called him back to assist on surgeries for years after his official retirement, so Bill continued assisting and teaching in the operating room until 2006. Bill was beloved by his entire family and by his patients, many of whom also got to enjoy his dry sense of humor. He would get stopped while out by many a patient (he was hard to miss, standing 6’6”) who would thank him for saving their lives and taking such wonderful care of them. Once, as a patient himself in the ICU with pericarditis, he disconnected all of his lines, snuck out of his ICU bed and dragged his IV pole around the hospital in his gown to check on his surgical patients. One of the highlights of his life was taking the entire family, including grandchildren, on an all-expenses paid vacation to Napili Kai in Maui for a fabulous 50th anniversary celebration. It was truly a magical week. Bill had a love of all things electronic, and spent his spare time building and flying R.C. airplanes, building Heath Kits, inventing gadgets for the house, and reading medical and electronics books which would be thoroughly annotated and highlighted. He loved Frosted Flakes with cream, even though he could fit into his college clothes until the end. His attention to detail was legendary, as was his habit of dating everything from batteries to the ketchup in the refrigerator. Bill loved listening to Frank Sinatra and other romantic “oldies” music from the 40’s and 50’s, college and pro football, putting on slide shows for the family, and traveling to Maui to sit on the beach with Eileen. He never missed a single opportunity to tell her how much he loved her, including writing a note inside her hand mirror when he fixed it. He once told his grandson Bill that “what makes a good surgeon is being obsessive compulsive. It has to be perfect every single time.” And that is what made Bill a perfect surgeon, husband and father. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Eileen Storz, his daughters, Eileen Storz-Salino (Bob), Barbara Kukowski (Bruce), Annmarie Crowley (Dana), his son, William John Storz III, his grandchildren Katie, Robert, Bill, Kristen, Brendan, Kevin and Meg, four great-granddaughters, Isabelle, Emma, Freya and Elise; his sister, Annette Antonoff, his nephew Nick, and his niece Anne Louise. The family extends special thanks to Bill’s caring and patient caregiver, Carlos. Services will be private and interment will be at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon, CA. To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of William, please visit our Tree Store or plant a tree. Read more
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of William Storz D December 15 2022.
Death notice for the town of: Walnut Creek, state: California