RACHLIN, Dr. William S. Of Brookline died peacefully on April 8, 2009 at the Briarwood Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Needham. Bill was the cherished husband of the late Joy (Barron), the devoted father of Faye Rachlin and her husband Gary Richards of Connecticut and Margo Gray and her husband John of Canton, the adoring grandfather of Rachel and Shira and the loving brother of Joseph and his wife Rosalind and Paula and her husband Jerome Gottesman. Bill graduated Princeton's three-year accelerated program in 1948 and entered Harvard Medical School at the age of 19. After serving two years as the chief of surgery on the Warner-Robins Air force base in Georgia, Bill started his surgical practice in Boston at the Beth Israel Hospital and became an instructor in surgery at Revere Memorial Hospital and worked at several other hospitals in the Boston area. Bill was a proud member of the American Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons, and he served as president of the Norfolk District Medical Society, which named him its 2002 Community Clinician of the Year. Following retirement at the stroke of the new millennium, Bill became a volunteer science teacher in several middle schools in the Boston area. He also taught several courses on scientific and medical subjects at the lifelong learning institutes at the Brandeis University and Regis College. Bill was a meticulous scientist and a graceful poet. Services will be held at Temple Israel, 477 Longwood Avenue, Boston (parking on the Riverway) on Sunday, April 12 at 2:00 P.M. Burial in Sharon Memorial Park. Memorial observance at his late residence following the burial until 8:30 P.M. and continuing Monday 1:00 to 4:00 and 6:30 to 9:00 P.M. Donations in Bill's memory would be appreciated to THE BOLLI Endowment Fund, Brandeis University, P.O. Box 549110, MS 126,Waltham, MA 02454-9110 or to the William and Joy Rachlin Bookshelf at Temple Israel, 477 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02215. Levine Chapels, Brookline 617-277-8300


Published in The Boston Globe on 4/9/2009