CLIFFORD JOHN STRAEHLEY, M.D. Age 92, passed away peacefully on 2/20/2015 at home in Walnut Creek, California. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended the University of Michigan for three years before accepting an early admittance to Harvard Medical School, where he graduated with honors. He then completed his residency and fellowship in General and Vascular surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He served in the army during medical school and residency as well as in Germany for two years following World War II. He then returned to Syracuse, New York where he was in private practice for nine years, with a teaching affiliation at the medical school. He moved his family to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1953, serving as Chief of Surgery at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital from 1963 to 1980. He was the Professor of Surgery at the University of Hawaii Medical School from 1980 to 1981, Vice Chairman of the Surgery Department from 1986 to 1991, and had a teaching affiliation with Stanford Medical School. He retired in 1991, having practiced Medicine for over 40 years with the highest of ethics and concern for patients. Upon retirement, he and his wife Marian divided their time between California and Colorado before settling full time in California over the last decade. He had an insatiable appetite for learning and in his late seventies he resumed his education at St. Mary's College, receiving his undergraduate degree at age 81, and being asked by his fellow graduating class to give the commencement speech. In retirement, he enjoyed spending time with Marnie, his wife of 71 years, reading to his three grandchildren, as well as hiking, skiing, snorkeling, playing tennis, and in recent years playing golf. He is survived by his wife; three children; Clifford J. Straehley III, Marcia Stone Straehley (Jan Kleczewski), and Douglas J. Straehley (Carole Bailey); and three grandchildren; Alison Kleczewski, Ian Straehley, and Krista Kleczewski. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends. He was a true scholar. He was a gentle soul who was thoughtful, genuinely kind, and caring. He touched the lives of so many people in a positive way, including the physicians he taught, the medical personnel he worked with, and the many, many patients that he cared for in such an exemplary way.
Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased
°