Bill Hamilton was a man for all seasons – one of those individuals who stands out from the crowd – and it was our good fortune to have known him as a department chair, colleague, mentor and friend.
He grew up in Guthrie Center, Iowa, during the Great Depression and never missed a chance to assume the role of country boy in the big city. That unassuming demeanor may have stood him in good stead on occasion, but it fooled no one who knew him well. He attended the University of Iowa as an undergraduate and medical student, graduating among the top of his class, then remaining there as an anesthesia resident and, after a period in the Army in occupied Germany, as a faculty member. While he eventually moved to San Francisco in 1967, he remained a dyed-in-the-wool Hawkeye all his life and, in his retirement facility quarters, a...
