Dr. William Richard King

A memorial service for Dr. William Richard King, a 49-year Carson City resident, will be 2 p.m. Nov. 18 at the First Presbyterian Church.

Dr. King died Nov. 9, 2006, in Carson City of complications resulting from prostate cancer. He was born Feb. 2, 1923, in Fall River, Mass., to George C. and Mary Hudner King.

He attended the Tabor Academy and Brown University and was a 1948 graduate of Tufts Medical School.

He married Christine Hoff, of Neshanic, N.Y., on Dec. 26, 1945.

Dr. King came to Carson City in 1957 and established a private surgical practice that came to be known as the Carson Surgical Group.

Dr. King worked both as a surgeon and as a general practitioner in Carson City for 49 years before his retirement. He then served the community for another decade at the Ross Medical Clinic. He was the first in the state to receive an active Nevada Medical License as a volunteer.

Dr. King served as the Carson-Tahoe Hospital chief of staff for two terms in 1958-59 and again from 1964-65. He was a hospital trustee from 1959-61 and again from 1964-74.

During the hospital fire of 1968, he and Dr. Grundy evacuated all 35 patients and 20 staff members.

He volunteered as hospital administrator during the 1970s at a time when the hospital could not afford a paid administrator.

Dr. King also served on the Carson City School Board from 1960-66 and volunteered with the Parent Teachers Association earning recognition from the group as a lifelong member in 1967.

He was a Presbyterian and served three sessions as an elder. He was co-chairman of the church's fundraising committee and was spearheading the campaign to build a new church.

Dr. King was awarded many honors including Man of the Years in 1989, the Nevada State Medical Association's Distinguished Physician of the Year. In 2003, he received recognition from the state, Congress and the mayor of Carson City for his many years of service to the residents of Carson City and the Carson Valley.

He was preceded in death by brothers George and Hudner, sister Helen Soule and son William King Jr.

Among his survivors are his wife of 60 years, of Carson City; daughters Fredrica King of Reno, Sarah King Scott of Baltimore; and son Dr. Douglas King of Portland, Ore.; and four grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the building fund for the Presbyterian Church or the Carson Tahoe Cancer Center, St. Mary's Hospice of Northern Nevada or a charity of one's choice.