When Dr. William Galloway wasn’t delivering babies, he was often doing one of two things: working for his church or enjoying his family.
“One of the coolest memories I have is him coming home after being up for 48 hours,” said his son, Woody Galloway of Atlanta. “I’m thinking he wants to rest, but he wants to throw the football with me. That brought him joy.”
Recitals, plays, sporting events, William Galloway was there for all of it, two of his children said.
“And he loved to have people around,” said his daughter Cindy Goldin of Alpharetta. “He really was a people person.”
William Henry Galloway of Stone Mountain died Friday from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 94.
A memorial service is planned for 1 p.m. Thursday at Wieuca Road Baptist Church. H.M. Patterson & Son, Oglethorpe Hill, is in charge of arrangements.
A native of Eclectic, Ala., Galloway graduated from Emory University and went on to the Medical College of Georgia. Before he started his practice in obstetrics and gynecology, Galloway served in the Army Medical Corps from 1945 until 1947, his children said. After his service, he practiced general medicine before he took on a specialty practice.
He had the perfect temperament for his chosen career, his daughter said.
“An OB/GYN has to be someone who can relate well, and in a very personal way,” Goldin said. “Looking after a woman and her pregnancy, it requires a different kind a care, and that’s just who Dad was.”
Galloway delivered babies at the former Georgia Baptist Hospital in the 1950s and at Northside Hospital starting in the ’70s.
While he was at Georgia Baptist, now Atlanta Medical Center, he was introduced to Caroline Verdery by the hospital’s chaplain, who was Verdery’s brother. The two married a year later and together raised three children.
Galloway was a charter member of Wieuca Road Baptist. At the church he served as chairman of the deacons, taught Sunday school and worked on a number of committees.
But when he wasn’t at church or with his family, he was often delivering babies, the number of which is in the thousands, his children say.
“He worked every third night and every third weekend,” his son said. “He could come home having delivered five or six babies.”
Galloway stopped delivering babies in the late ’70s but didn’t retire until 10 years later, around his 70th birthday.
“Bringing life into the world was a miracle to him,” Goldin said. “It was a different era back then, you know.”
“If you think about an old-school doctor, that is who he was,” her brother added. “His nature was to care for people. And he really cared about helping people.”
In addition to his wife of 59 years, daughter and son, Galloway is survived by a second daughter, Kathy Meyer of Wilmington, N.C.; and nine grandchildren.
About the Author
