We are saddened to announce the loss of William R. Linder, MD, on February 2, 2025. The greater world knew him as Dr. Linder: a gifted physician, teacher, and respected colleague, but to us he was beloved husband, brother, father, uncle, grandfather and great grandfather.
Born in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, William, or Bill, as most people called him, was the oldest of three siblings, an athletic young man who spent summers with his family at Stone Harbor, racing speed boats. On his 21st birthday, our mother recalls, he was racing a boat called Pop’s Finger. She watched from the bank, horrified, as he flipped it at high speed. Luckily, he was unscathed.
This early racing led to his life-long love of boating. For speed, he had Scoper, a fast little craft for pulling skiers; for getaways on the river, a cabin cruiser named Prost. As a family we spent many a summer weekend out on the Delta, water skiing and socializing with boating friends, or sometimes just swimming in circles around the boat.
Following his father into the medical profession, Bill earned his MD at Temple University, having married our mother Barbara (Bean) in 1957. Their oldest child, Beth, was born the next year; the twins Betsy and Bonnie arrived shortly after his graduation in 1960. Having joined the army to complete his residency and internship, he was stationed in Augsburg, Germany, for three years, and that is where Brett, their youngest child, was born. Our family’s affinity for all things German stems from this period, when our parents didn’t allow themselves to be restricted to the military base where we lived, but rather made friends out in the community, and traveled widely.
After seven years, Bill left the army, having attained the rank of Major, and settled in California, where his aunt and uncle lived. He opened up a private practice in San Jose, first by himself, and later with a few colleagues. At one time or other we kids all worked in his office, doing clerical work, or mounting EKG readouts. One time, Betsy was filing paperwork and couldn’t find one of the patient’s charts. “Oh, that one’s in the special drawer,” was the secretary’s answer when she asked. “Those are the files of the patients your father doesn’t charge.”
Our father’s generosity has been a constant in our life, as well—in encouragement, in service, and in the legacy of creating a culture that emphasized education and learning. He himself was an avid reader. It was also hugely helpful to have someone who could answer our questions about our own medical issues: squirrel bite? blood panel results? that weird twinge in the elbow?
It’s been a few years since our parents gave up the boating life and sold Prost, but our father’s love of cars extended into his final years. His aunt had left him their 1970 Cadillac convertible, for instance, which he kept double covered in the side yard and took out for a periodic spin. He was meticulous in his maintenance of all of his vehicles, and part of that care included a continuous struggle to ward off rats and mice under the hood. Any time one of us kids or grandkids visited, he’d make sure our vehicles were carefully cleaned, windows smearless, before we could leave the driveway. And perhaps we’d like a fancy new flashlight to take home with us too? In this and many other ways did he show us his love.
Bill retired from his private practice in 1997, after 30 years of service to the community.
Our parents spent those retirement years travelling, boating, visiting family, and working in the garden. In these last few years, he’d slowed, had a pacemaker installed, and in the end, his heart failed him—the same heart that had never failed us.
William Raymond Linder is survived by his wife of 67 years, Barbara; brother Chuck Linder (Sally); four children: Beth Linder Carr (Michael), Bonnie Cammann (Tom), Betsy Rumer (Roger), and Brett Linder (Beth); seven grandchildren: Matthew Cammann, Christina Genes, Sarah Cozik, Anna Rumer, Zoë Crabtree, Erin Linder, and Keri Linder; five great grandchildren: Emma and Jack Genes, Cora and Nash Cammann, and Mac Cozik; niece and nephews Joyce Rienhardt, John K. Linder and Mark Brown. He was predeceased by his sister Jean Brown.
There will be a private memorial service in June.
