William Kerst Runyeon ’46

Bill accidentally drowned in the Delaware River June 7, 2005, while fishing alone.

A graduate of The Hill School, he earned a bachelor's from Princeton in 1945, then received a medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School in 1948. After his internship, Bill studied surgery at the Cleveland Clinic from 1949 to 1955, with service in the Army Air Corps from 1951 to 1953. He began a distinguished career in surgery at Reading (Pa.) Hospital, becoming president of the Eastern Pennsylvania College of Surgeons in 1968.

Bill also was president of the Reading Musical Foundation and a trustee of The Hill School. He loved fishing, which he enjoyed with his sons, William and Frank '75. They survive him as do his daughters, Jane and Marian; his wife, Jane; and five grandchildren. The class extends deep sympathy to them on their loss.

The Class of 1946