On behalf of the Orcas Medical Foundation and our Board of Directors, I want to express appreciation for the many ways and times Dr. Stan Williams shared his medical knowledge and caring manner with patients on Orcas Island.

As those who have lived on Orcas for many years know, Stan practiced at the Orcas Island Medical Clinic in Eastsound from 1974 to 1980. After leaving for five years to practice emergency medicine on the mainland, Stan returned to private practice on Orcas from 1985 to 1990. He returned again in 1998 to continue his private practice, and he was frequently a locum tenens (temporary) physician at our current Medical Center and Island Hospital.

Dr. Tony Giefer, who came to Orcas in 2005, said in his letter to the editor last week, “When we were short handed at Orcas Medical Center, he graciously agreed to help see patients for over two years. Patients loved Stan.”

So many times, throughout his life, Dr. Stan Williams helped others — as a U.S. Army physician in Vietnam from 1969 to 1971, as a volunteer at a free clinic in Seattle from 1972 to 1974, and throughout the state of Washington for the rest of his life.

We wish to honor his generous spirit and gracious manner, in addition to his many years of medical practice on Orcas Island.

David Sarver

Orcas Medical Foundation

Board of Directors