William Admirand

1933 - 2012

William "Bill" Admirand, M.D.

William "Bill" Admirand M.D., beloved husband, father and grandfather, passed away peacefully at home October 5, 2012 surrounded by family. Born in 1933, Bill was the only child of Jacob and Isabelle Admirand. Bill attended Fairlawn High School in NJ where he was quarterback for the Fair Lawn High Cutters. He was the first of his family to attend college, achieving a B.S. in Biology and Chemistry (1955) from Middlebury College ,VT, also playing football and achieving All-American in lacrosse.

Bill graduated Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, with Alpha Omega Alpha honors in 1960. As a medical student, Bill took care of R.J. Reynolds Jr., traveling and living with him on his Sapelo Island, GA estate.

During his Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, he met his wife and companion for life, Janice "Jan" Harris, a radiology technician at the University Hospital. After their wedding, Bill and Jan moved to Portsmouth, NH for Bill to serve in the United States Navy Medical Corps at the Portsmouth Naval Hospital (1963-1965). Upon discharge, Bill and Jan moved to Boston, MA for Bill's fellowship in Gastroenterology at Boston University School of Medicine after which he was granted the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory and Clinical research fellowship at Harvard Medical School (1967). During his tenure, he co-authored; "The Physiochemical Basis of Cholesterol Gallstone formation in Man" which was selected in 1997 by the American Gastroenterological Association as one of the 10 most significant gastroenterological papers in the past 100 years. In 1968, Bill and his family moved to Stockholm, Sweden for a research fellowship at the Karolinska Institute.

After relocating to Mill Valley, CA, Bill was appointed assistant professor (1969) and then associate professor (1974) of medicine at the University of California in San Francisco, and served as chief of gastroenterology at San Francisco General Hospital (1972-1976).

In 1976, Bill's family moved to Reno, NV. Bill served the community as a private practitioner and leader in his profession for almost 30 years. As a physician, Bill, Dr. Admirand to so many, was first and foremost a practitioner of humanity. He believed that relating personally, directly and establishing a rapport with his patients was critical to diagnosis and treatment. He valued the assistance he received from the entire extended medical community throughout his career. In 1987, he served as President of the Washoe Country Medical Society. In 1993, Bill was honored with the Nevada State Medical Association's highest honor, the Distinguished Physician Award for his services to the community as an outstanding physician.

Bill was an avid skier, hunter, fisherman and artist. He enjoyed running his dogs and tying flies. He also loved cooking and spending time with his family and friends. Bill is survived by his wife of 49 years, Janice, daughters Leigh (Mark), Leslie and Joan (Shawn) and grandchildren Jake, William and Isabel.

The family will hold a celebration of Bill's life at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a charitable donation in Bill's name to the Nevada Youth Ski Education Foundation (NYSEF). http://www.skinysef.org/donations