William D. Irving MD

William D. Irving, M.D., 91, formerly of Lyme, Connecticut, passed away peacefully on September 20, 2015. The son of Dr. William Watson Irving and Elizabeth Jane Irving, he was born in New York City on January 16, 1924. Born, raised and educated in New York City, he was a product of the Jumel School, the New York City Public School System, Columbia University and the New York University College of Medicine. A child of the Great Depression whose father died when he was only 17 months old, and diagnosed with polio as a young boy, Bill Irving grew up with a deep knowledge of human suffering and perseverance. Over the course of his 41-year career as a pediatrician, Dr. Bill cared for thousands of children and their families throughout the towns along the Connecticut shoreline.

During World War II, at the age of 18, he enlisted in the Coast Guard as an Apprentice Seaman and served as a Pharmacist’s Mate on the troop transport ship USS General W.P. Richardson (AP-118) until his discharge from the service as a Chief Petty Officer in 1946. His service and on-going training were centered primarily in the Hospital Corps, first at a sea rescue unit, and then more broadly in the North Atlantic and European-Mediterranean Theaters of Operation. Upon returning from the war, he worked as a fund-raiser for Planned Parenthood.

Among his many talents and abilities, Bill Irving was also a song and dance man with a deep love of music. Toward the end of his pediatric practice, his tap shoes could be found in the trunk of his car, along with a practice board for his tap dancing lessons, and just in case there was an occasion to dance. Noticed for his dancing at a nightclub in 1946 by the actor Frank Lovejoy, he was offered a screen test in movies. Instead, he opted to return to his undergraduate studies and then went on to medical school. He received his post-graduate medical training at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, University Hospital at NYU and Bellevue Medical Center in New York City, and then completed his residency in pediatrics at Grace-New Haven Hospital. After a brief stint doing research at Grace-New Haven Hospital, he opened his private practice in Old Saybrook, Connecticut in 1955.

Teaching was an area of longstanding commitment. Throughout his career, he mentored and taught medical students, interns and residents in pediatrics at Yale-New Haven Hospital where he was on staff and held an academic appointment as Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Yale’s School of Medicine. He retired from full time practice in 1996 and was widely known as a deeply devoted and caring physician. The state of Connecticut declared October 20th, 1996 to be Dr. Bill Irving Day, as did the towns of Chester, Clinton, Deep River, Essex, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook and Westbrook. Following his retirement, Dr. Irving served as the Health Director for the town of Old Saybrook, and continued mentoring into his 80’s as a preceptor and attending physician at the Hospital of St. Rafael In New Haven.

Proud of his Welsh heritage, Dr. Irving was a long-standing member and past president of the St. David’s Society of New York. His reading of Dylan Thomas’, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales”, was a recurring event for many years during Old Saybrook’s “Christmas Stroll”, the town’s annual winter holiday celebration. Earlier in his life, he and his family were members of the Welsh Presbyterian Church at 155th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in New York City. With his family’s move to Connecticut, he became a member, and later, a deacon of the Congregational Church of Lyme, where he also sang in the choir. In addition, he was a board member of High Hopes Therapeutic Riding in Old Lyme and the Connecticut March of Dimes, as well as a member of the St. Andrew’s and St. George’s Societies of New York and the Pilgrims of the United States in New York City.

Begun on a whim on Independence Day in 1958, the Irving family’s little march down Cove Road grew to become the Lyme Fourth of July Parade. This is an annual, town-wide celebration that, as Dr. Irving always said, “starts promptly at about 11 am.” Staff and campers at Camp Clair in Lyme remember him fondly for making sure that they were included in the parade, as well as for his service as physician for the camp. Several years ago, the sports field at Camp Clair camp was named the Bill and Esther Irving Field in recognition of their contributions over the years. When Dr. Irving finally stepped down as the parade’s grand marshal in 2008, Lyme’s Board of Selectmen named the bridge at the foot of the hill where the Irvings lived the Esther and Bill Irving Bridge. It was from this bridge that he tossed tea bags into Hamburg Cove for 50 years at the conclusion of his annual reflections on the history and meaning of the Declaration of Independence. History was just one of his interests. He was a voracious reader with a deep love of learning and a wide-ranging curiosity. One of his favorite quotes comes from a play by William Saroyan. “In the time of your life, live – so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.”

Dr. Bill Irving is pre-deceased by his wife, Esther and great grandson, Sebastian. He is survived by his son, Dr. Keith Irving and his wife, Dr. Linda Camlin of Winchester, MA; his son Bruce Irving and his wife, Cherylann Irving of Avon, CT; as well as his daughter Deborah Hagan and her husband, Daniel Hagan of Lyme, CT. He also leaves his grandchildren Elizabeth and Duncan Camlin-Irving; Brigit, Morgan and Caitlyn Irving, and Tegan Dyer and her husband, Steven Dyer; Dr. Nellwyn Hagan and her husband, Craig Stephenson, and Cullen Hagan and his wife, Kaitlin Hagan; as well as his great-grandchildren Crystal, Ailish and Henrik.

Calling hours will be held on Saturday, October 3rd from 11 am to 3 pm at Swan Funeral Home, 1224 Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook. The family will hold a private memorial service and funeral at a later date. Please visit www.swanfuneralhomeoldsaybrook.com to leave an on-line tribute or condolence. The family requests that memorial donations be made to Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital in lieu of flowers.