STRYKER-WILLIAM

Excerpts from obituary published in San Diego Union-Tribune on 1/10/2016:

William Schamel Stryker, MD, passed away December 27, 2015, in San Diego at the age of 99.  He was born December 3, 1916, in Boulder, Colorado, and attended the University of Colorado, graduating in 1940 with a B.A. degree in chemistry.  In 1942 he received his Doctor of Medicine degree from University of Colorado School of Medicine and completed one year of internship at Medical College of Virginia when the Navy offered him the opportunity to complete his training at a Navy hospital. 

He became a Commissioned Officer in the Navy Medical Corps in April 1943.  He served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, first at Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands and later at Saipan in the Marianas.  After the war Dr. Stryker reported to USNH Oakland to begin his residency in Orthopedics.  It was there that he met and would marry Mary Irene Smith, a Navy nurse who had been stationed in England on D-Day.  They would enjoy 43-years together, being blessed with six children (born at five different duty stations).  He completed his orthopedic residency at Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.  During the Korean War, Dr. Stryker served aboard the hospital ship USS Consolation deployed off the coast of Korea.  His last duty station was Balboa Navy Hospital in San Diego where he was Chief of Orthopedics.  CAPT Stryker retired from the Navy in December 1969 having served 26-years on active duty.

Dr. Stryker then moved to Los Angeles to embark on the second half of his professional career.  He was Medical Director at Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital from late 1969 to 1977 after which he went into private practice.  He resumed his academic career at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center where he was Chairman of the Division of Orthopedic Surgery from 1983 to 1992.  He retired from Harbor General Hospital/UCLA Medical Center in 2008. 

Capt Stryker is survived by five children, 13-grandchildren and 2-great-grandchildren.  He was preceded in death by his wife who died in 1989.  He has been interred next to his wife at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego.

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)