Obituary: Edward Albert Rayhill, M.D.

1929-2024

Dr. Edward (Ted) Rayhill of Grand Island passed away peacefully on Nov. 9, 2024, after reaching his 95th birthday.

He was born the youngest of three children to Christine (Gubitz) and Edward Anthony Rayhill. He is predeceased by his two older sisters, Joyce Durkin and Marguerite Walsh. He met his wife, Joanne Decot, when he was 16 – and it was love at first sight. They married seven years later, on June 20, 1953.

Ted attended Canisius College and then graduated from University at Buffalo Medical School in 1954, receiving the top two surgical awards.

After bringing home their second baby, Ted received his orders to serve in the Navy, and they relocated to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, where he spent much of his service delivering babies and keeping our troops healthy.

Upon returning to Buffalo, Dr. Rayhill entered private practice as a family doctor on Grand Island with his classmate and longtime partner Dr. Robert Miller. They later added Dr. Thomas Sheehan to the practice, and served the local community as family physicians for over 40 years.

In September of 1978, Dr. Rayhill risked his medical license when he began paramedic-level training for a contingent of Grand Island firefighters. On Oct. 6, 1979, nine newly certified paramedics were ready to initiate advanced life-support services, with Ted serving as medical director. Grand Island was one of the first volunteer agencies in the state to offer paramedic-level service. This was one of Ted’s proudest achievements.

Thirty-six years later to the day, this same group of paramedics saved Ted’s life from a heart attack in 2015.

Dr. Rayhill also served as the chief of family practice at Kenmore Mercy Hospital and was a founding member of the Family Medicine Foundation at the University at Buffalo, where he served as a clinical associate professor for decades. He was a charter member of the AAFP and the American Board of Family Medicine and served as president of the Erie County chapter of the NY State Academy of Family Physicians.

Ted had a wonderful sense of humor and was quite the renaissance man. He built custom furniture and was an avid modeler of RC-airplanes and hydroplanes. He taught himself to play the guitar and harmonica, loved listening to music, was a voracious reader and a gifted athlete.

But most of all, he loved spending time with his family. Joanne and Ted were happily married for over 71 years and enjoyed a wonderful, active life on Grand Island. They played tennis with close friends, cross-country skied in the winter, walked, biked and kayaked in Beaver Island State Park. Ted was an avid sculler since he was a teenager at the West Side Rowing Club. He rowed his single-man scull in the Niagara River into his 80s.

Dr. Rayhill is survived by his wife, Joanne (Decot), and his four children: Christine (Frank Eason) McLimans, Karen Bruno (John), Michael (Donnette) and Catherine (Katherine Hastings). He leaves eight grandchildren: Andrew (Kathleen) Bruno, Nicole (Jess) Laski, Melissa (Will Raskopf), Thomas (Danielle), James, Michael, Ashley (Jeremy) McLimans-Davis and Blake McLimans; and six great-grandchildren: Clare and Kyle Bruno, Emma and Leah Laski, Finn and Zoe Raskopf.

A wake will be held for Dr. Rayhill from 4-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, at Kaiser Funeral Home, 1950 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Grand Island Fire Co. and the Family Medicine Endowment Fund at the University at Buffalo are appreciated. Share condolences at kaiserfuneral.com.

Edward Albert Rayhill, M.D.