Dr. William J. "Bill" MacDonald, an avid runner, cardiologist and president of The Everett Clinic, died Thursday while on a trip to Hawaii. He was 59.
"It was like a thunderbolt," said Dr. Tony Roon, trauma director at Providence Everett Medical Center, a longtime friend and colleague. "It hit all of us.
"There isn’t a dry eye in the (hospital) medical staff, I can tell you that," Roon said. "Bill was very well respected and very well-liked. He just exemplified everything we would want to emulate."
Roon, who described MacDonald as a fishing buddy, recalled a trip to Alaska several years ago with several friends.
"Here’s a guy a year older than me, one the healthiest human beings I ever met. He could run 10 miles like a deer."
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at St. Mary Magdalen Church in Everett. A reception will follow at the Everett Golf and Country Club, said MacDonald’s son, Bill MacDonald III.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Everett Clinic Foundation.
MacDonald died of an infection of the heart, his son said. He had gone to Hawaii to attend a continuing education conference on cardiology.
He is survived by his wife, Karen MacDonald, to whom he had been married 35 years; daughters Meredith James and Katie MacDonald, both of Seattle; and son Bill, who lives in Los Angeles.
"He was an incredibly intelligent man," his son said. "He loved to read and learn. He was constantly teaching himself new things."
Even while he was sick in Hawaii, he was reading a book on calculus, he said.
MacDonald coached basketball and soccer when his children were growing up. He loved fly-fishing, the sport of orienteering, hiking in the North Cascade Mountains and was an amateur wine collector.
He attended St. John’s Church in Mukilteo.
In addition to his work as a cardiologist and leader of The Everett Clinic, MacDonald often spoke on health issues.
He co-authored a January 2003 guest editorial in The Herald with Rick Cooper, the clinic’s executive director, on Medicare funding. In November, he spoke to the Rotary Club of Everett on the state of health care.
He received his medical degree from the University of Vermont and completed his residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He earned a fellowship in cardiology at the University of California, San Diego.
MacDonald joined The Everett Clinic in 1976 and was elected to its board of directors in 1987. He had served as board chairman and president of clinic for the past 10 years.
Dr. Jack Stephens has been named as interim president of The Everett Clinic.
"Bill had a wonderful ethical system of always putting the patient first," said Dr. Al Fisk, medical director for the clinic. "He was a wonderful cardiologist. He certainly helped save many lives in our community."
"Words can’t express the grief that comes with the loss of such an outstanding physician, community leader, business associate and most of all, friend," said Gail Larson, chief executive for Providence Everett Medical Center.
Reporter Sharon Salyer:
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