William McIvor Obituary

The Bay Area has lost a scion. William (Bill) McIvor, MD, died at John Muir Hospital on November 6, 2022 after a brief illness. Bill was born on September 22, 1932 in Oakland. His father was an Irish immigrant and his mother's family had been in California since 1850.Bill attended Piedmont High, and then Stanford University for both his undergraduate and Medical School studies.While an undergraduate at Stanford, he excelled at swimming, and after graduation he won the Golden Gate swim three years in a row. He also set the world record for swimming around Alcatraz while it was still a prison.He did his medical residency at UC San Francisco, where he met Mary Parker, who was working in the lab. They married in Carmel in 1963, and their daughter Kate was born in 1964. Their son, Ian, was born six years later in 1970.Bill completed his medical studies in London, and the family returned to the Bay Area, settling in Lafayette in 1966. He remained in his beloved historical adobe home for the rest of his life.After completing his studies, Bill became the first orthopedist at John Muir Hospital, and started the orthopedic group now called Golden State Orthopedics and Spine. He was a pioneer in arthroscopic knee surgery.His wife Mary passed away in 1990. Following her death, Bill reduced his feverish work pace and began traveling and spending time at the cabin he and Mary built on the edge of the Lee Metcalf wilderness in Montana, close to where Mary grew up. He also started ballroom dancing, and through that activity, became reacquainted with Kathy Krieger, who has been his partner ever since.Bill was preceded in death by both his parents, his brother Bob, his wife Mary, and his son Ian. He is survived by his friend and companion Kathy, his sister Marion, his daughter Kate, son-in-law Fred Rice, and granddaughters Charlotte and Mairin Wilson.A memorial will be scheduled at a later date. For those wishing to remember Bill, the family suggests donations in his name to the Lawrence Hall of Science or the Ruby Habitat Foundation.

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Published by East Bay Times from Nov. 13 to Nov. 27, 2022.

Memories and Condolences
for William McIvor

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2 Entries

Lisa Austin

October 26, 2023

I was a patient of Dr.McIvor´s since 1979, the age of 12. I had severe pain in my knee and he was the Orthopedic on my father´s medical plan; It was an arthrogram, a big needle injecting dye into the knee joint and then ink is injected...the nurses couldn´t believe I only teared up but as it turned out I had a torn medial meniscus. Being a female athlete in the late 70´s he wanted me to continue - I was a swimmer in the summertime and a soccer player the rest of the year. So he did a procedure that was not well known but was incredibly successful!!! Waiting for the results in the exam room...mom and i waited 35 minutes, we were both getting very anxious about the success or lack there of from the surgery. My mom peeked out the room and asked if Dr. McIvor would be coming in with the surgery results? They were mortified that we were still
In the exam room as he was showing everyone how successful the surgery was! We were very concerned and he was enjoying the bliss of his gift in Orthopedic Surgery! I continued to play soccer (I loved soccer) and girls had recently begun in the Mustang Soccer League. I needed another surgery following my freshman year in HS I ended up in a straight leg cast for 6 weeks and a lot of PT! I remember being afraid of just jumping in the pool when y cast was removed... I had multiple arthroscopies and I ended up having a couple MRI´s and I believe my last surgery with Dr.McIvor was following my college career which I injured my knee my senior year at Cal State Hayward. I was a goalkeeper and ended up needing to have an ACL reconstruction..! After attending a
Medical conference he had second thoughts about my diagnosis and wanted me to see a specialist...Mom and I flew to Long Beach to see this doctor and I will never forget their discussion about my medial meniscus repair! His friend called him
On the phone in absolute AWE that Dr. McIvor did such a successful repair and he had no knowledge of it ever being done and my knee showed no signs of wear and tear of that surgery...! So I had the "old fashioned" ACL reconstruction - took part of my patella tendon and used it as my new ACL. He told me post surgery that he wanted me to be aggressive but NOT painful recovery plan. I remember him telling me that he wanted me to get to 90% flexión in my knee and the fastest he´d seen it done was 2 weeks...he was very clear that if there was "pain" being clear that he didn´t mean "pressure" in the joint work slowly through it.!
Well my 2nd visit was at 10 days and I was at 90%. I think he knew I would make that milestone and continued to recover...my high tolerance of pain and the good fortune to have Dr. McIvor as my surgeon as a female athlete who ended up being part of the very first Division II Women´s Soccer Championship team in 1988 at Cal State Hayward...the only Division I Team to ever compete At the Division I women´s soccer play-off´s and we did it 2x´s!! I owe so much success and longevity of my athletic career to Dr. McIvor. I would being him mom´s homemade cranberry recipe at Thanks giving and I joked with him about "can we just meet for coffee and discuss the diagnosis rather than needing f me to go into the office. We had a good laugh when I said well which room did "we" own? (as the practice was incredibly popular and grew significantly in size). I had more surgeries following thats d Dr. Miranda was my doctor for a while and ended up telling me at age 36 that I needed an knee replacement I my right knee but wait it out..."if you feel pain - STOP. The longer you can wait the more the procedure will develop and the better off you will be". I had my first knee replacement in October 2019 - my left knee as I was compensating so much requiring my left knee to do LOTS of the work and FINALLY my right knee in May of 2021! As my doctor was in awe of the strength of my bone marrow in 2019 I didn´t understand what that meant until his assistant finally told me that the surgeon "Dr. Junglas" had been doing these surgeries for quite a while he never had to ask for a m2s saw until he did mine! Which for women is rare as apparently women don´t keep up with calcium foods I their diet...I will likely NOT need another knee replacement and I have Dr.William McIvor to thank for my lifetime of support and being able to be an athlete for the greater part of my life! He was my doctor, my surgeon and my friend...my final funny story is...following my first knee replacement the screw in my right shin was preventing me from fully straightening my knee as it would disrupt a nerve in the area and I need it to be removed and had to wait more than a full year following the surgery to get it removed...my dad was a chemical engineer and was bery curious about what type of metal is placed in the body...!! So I asked Dr. McIvor a couple of questions prior to surgery...Told him my dad wanted him to save the screw for me so he could see it and I asked him on my day of surgery if - since he needs to remove the screw can I get a "refund" since I get them at Ace Hardware we both laughed hysterically and he finally asked if my father out me up to that and I barely got a NO out before w e both laughed hysterically about it and I owe so much to Dr. William McIvor, I was very sad to see that he passed away in 2022, and really regret not trying to track him down to share these stories with him. My dad got to keep the screw and we paid for it to be part of the initial ACL surgery and got it back after it was removed...he was an incredibly talented and knowledgeable surgeon...my life would be so different if our paths hadn´t crossed! I owe so much to him and want his family to know he was a""Miracle Worker" and changed my life in ways that I continue to share these stories and
People repeatedly make mention of how fortunate I was to have such a talented surgeon in my side to keep pursuing athletics as a female...I ended up swimming, playing soccer, tennis and softball at a
Competitive level -Soccer and softball in College and I owe so very much to Dr. McIvor - his nurse Gloria was equally as kind and knowledgeable I could not ask for any better care than I received and Dr. McIvor was a trailblazer in great care and knowledge of knees - being a patient of his for so many years has been a gift that keeps in giving...to his wonderful family... thank you for letting him be the amazing and life changing surgeon that he was - I am confident that I am not the only patient with stories of this magnitude, I known he loved his family more than Anything and it´s probably that he sacrificed time with them to take care of patients like me and We are ALL so very Grateful!! Thank you Dr. McIvor rest in peace; knowing that you were indeed a life changer and a wry Humble Legend in the surgery room!"
Your favorite patient - Lisa Austin!!

The Wendts

November 13, 2022

What a wonderful gentleman. We enjoyed his Christmas party and talking about biking trips. We send our sympathy
Jerry and Linda Wendt

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