Dr. Salvador O'Neill

Salvador O’Neill, M.D., a long-time Miami ear, nose and throat physician respected by his peers and beloved by his patients and extended family on the U.S. mainland and in Puerto Rico, died peacefully at his Coral Gables home on Jan. 28, 2021 following a long illness. He was 86.

Dr. O’Neill was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, in 1934 to Rosa Delgado and Antonio O’Neill. He grew up on the island but left for Washington, D.C., to get his undergraduate degree at The George Washington University, where he was active in the ROTC and marched with the group in President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s inaugural parade in 1953.

He returned to Puerto Rico to study for his medical degree in otolaryngology at the University of Puerto Rico. It was just as he was starting med school that he began dating the love of his life, Carmen Rosa Delgado, whom he married in 1960 after graduating with his M.D. They honeymooned in Miami — and stayed. Dr. O’Neill interned at Jackson Memorial Hospital and was a resident at Pratt General Hospital, the VA hospital housed for many years in the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. He went into private practice when the VA closed Pratt in 1968.

The doctor was known for his professionalism, his keen surgical skills and his coolness under pressure. His quick work once saved the life of an injured neighbor girl, and he rushed to Puerto Rico to save his mother-in-law after other physicians said she was unlikely to survive a serious car accident. He often treated children and indigent patients without receiving payment. He was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS), and at mid-career he became a board-certified plastic surgeon specializing in rhinoplasty, so he could be more helpful to his patients. He was honored for his service as president of the Greater Miami Ear, Nose & Throat Society during the 1970s.

Dr. O’Neill loved to get out and see the world, and he traveled extensively, both during his career and in retirement. He ventured to nearly every island in the Caribbean, all corners of the U.S. and Europe, and many destinations in Africa and Asia, including the Great Wall of China.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Carmen Rosa Delgado O’Neill; son Cliff O’Neill; son-in-law Doug Whiteman; many nieces and nephews including Magui, Marta, Clarisse and Lourdes O’Neill, Marycelys and Felix “Sito” Delgado, and Roberto and Hector Diaz; and cousins including Raul Delgado, and Karen and J.B. Rosario.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Doctors Without Borders at https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/onetime.cfm

Please check back to this page for details on a memorial service and Dr. O’Neill’s eventual internment in the mausoleum at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn North Cemetery in Miami. Arrangements have been delayed because of complications related to the COVID-19 pandemic.