OBITUARY
Dr. Michael C. McNalley, founder of the Cardiology Department at Hoag
Hospital in Newport Beach and resident of Corona del Mar, died Tuesday.
He was 69.
His intellect, irrepressible sense of humor and excellent bedside manner
earned him profound respect from colleagues and patients.
Dr. Robert Egan, gastrointestinal specialist at Hoag and personal friend
of Dr. McNalley, described him as a devoted physician, an avid
outdoorsman and a wonderful person.
Egan said Dr. McNalley was ready to race over to the hospital when he was
needed, never complaining -- even when he got a 3 a.m. emergency call.
Dr. McNalley for years was both friend and physician to Egan and his
wife.
“He was a very excellent cardiologist. I’m living proof that he was an
effective doctor,” Egan said.
Dr. McNalley was a fellow of the American College of Physicians, the
American College of Cardiology and the American Council of Clinical
Cardiology.
Born June 10, 1931, in Minneapolis, Kan., Dr. McNalley earned his
undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Kansas,
receiving his medical diploma in 1956.
He took his internship and first year of residency in internal medicine
at Duke University in Durham, N.C., then studied cardiology at Bellevue
Hospital, Columbia University, with Dr. Dickinson W. Richards, a pioneer
in cardiac catheterization and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
Dr. McNalley completed his cardiology training at the University of
Colorado.
Upon completion of his medical training, he entered the U.S. Army and
served for two years at the Fifth General Hospital in Stuttgart-Bad
Canstatt, Germany. He returned to the U.S. in 1963 to begin cardiology
practice at the Wichita Clinic.
In 1965, he took a position as assistant professor of cardiology at
Parkland Hospital, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in
Dallas.
Two years later, he became associate professor of cardiology at the
University of Tennessee Medical School in Memphis.
In 1970, Dr. McNalley moved to Corona del Mar to found the Cardiology
Department at Hoag Hospital. He raised money to establish the department
and to build a cardiac catheterizationlaboratory, recruited and trained
staff, and left a lasting legacy for the medical community.
He entered private practice with Dr. Harry Stickler in 1973 and remained
on the staff at Hoag until 1995, when he retired from medicine.
He is survived by his wife of 43 years, Sharon Cook McNalley; sister Mary
Elizabeth Medlock, of Bartlesville, Okla.; children Elizabeth M. Shafer,
of St. Helena, Calif.; Michael A. McNalley, of Northville, Mich.; Janet
M. Brown, of Fort Worth, Tex.; Thomas E. McNalley of San Carlos, Calif.;
and D. Joseph McNalley, of Encinitas, Calif.; and 11 grandchildren.
A rosary will be at held at 8 p.m. Sunday and the funeral service will be
held at 11 a.m. Monday at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church, 2046 Mar
Vista, Newport Beach. Internment will be private.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to
Community Partners, FBO Hutchins Consort, 1948 Port Ramsgate, Newport
Beach 92660.
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