Deceased August 6, 2000
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In Memory
It is with great sadness that I write to share the news that Bill Merlin, our friend and classmate, died on Aug. 6, 2000, at his home in Madison, Conn. Bill passed away unexpectedly but peacefully of a heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Mary Merlin, and their two children, Mackenzie and Mikaela, 4-year-old fraternal twins.
As I reflect on Bill's life during and after Amherst, I’m reminded of the epigraph about friendship: “We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.” That certainly was true for my and others’ friendship with him. I will always remember Bill for three traits that endured over the nearly 30 years of our friendship. His deep-bellied laughter and jovial perspective, his broad-reaching curiosity and his loyalty as a friend.
At Amherst, Bill was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. He always maintained a wonderful balance between the academic rigors of a pre-medical course curriculum and the fun of college. With each fresh snowfall, he was typically one of the first to propose sledding down Memorial Hill on cafeteria trays. He was also always a cheerful advocate for his home state of Minnesota. Over the years, Bill was my personal guide to the state, where he spent most of his professional career. Bill went to medical school in Minnesota and later completed his residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in 1983. For the next 13 years, he practiced as an internist with Park-Nicollet Clinic, a large multi-specialty group. For many years, he was director of the urgent care department. He also served as a medical director for United HealthCare and as assistant medical director of the Foundation for Healthcare Evaluation, the peer review organization that covered the upper Midwest. At one point, Bill and Mary even signed on board to serve as the medical staff in residence for a cruise line. This period gave them an extraordinary opportunity to truly travel and see the world together.
After Amherst, Bill and I remained consistently in touch over 25 years. We first took a canoe trip together in the boundary waters area of northern Minnesota. I still remember his deep, full laugh when we dumped a canoe—with me in it—while beginning a portage. Our family photo albums were also punctuated with a backpacking trip into the Sawtooth Mountains of central Idaho. Later, our visits were in Minnesota where my wife, Mary Jo, and I once stayed with Bill and Mary at the farmhouse they'd leased adjoining a working hog farm. Our visit was memorable on three fronts: great conversation among old friends, the sweetest field-picked corn on the cob I've ever tasted and the freshest hog scent I've ever smelled.
As Bill's career progressed, he moved increasingly into health care management. In 1995, he and Mary moved to Dallas, where Bill served as the president of the University Medical Group, an off-shoot of the University of Texas Southwestern/Parkland Hospital. During this time, Bill and Mary welcomed Mackenzie and Mikaela in their lives. In 1998, the Merlin clan moved to Connecticut, where Bill became the CEO of the Yale Primary Care Groups and the Yale New Haven Health System Center for Practice Management Services and senior vice president and chief medical officer of Yale's Management Services Organization. As Bill rose in leadership stature, he kept his sense of humor. About his CEO position, he joked to a classmate: “My ‘exposure’ to live patients has been ‘restricted’ to only an afternoon or two per week, making Connecticut a safer place for everyone.”
Bill of the Internet. Even as he reached senior executive management levels, he continued his education by matriculating in the executive MBA program for healthcare providers. He also demonstrated a lifelong curiosity and love of learning. He was an early and enthusiastic user writing a book, Ondines Curse, about which he was really excited.
Bill's children will inherit his laughter, his curiosity and his loyalty. They can be proud of their father, just as I and others have been proud to count Bill as a friend for all these years. We will miss him.
Christopher E. Bogan ’76