William "Billy" Meyers
1951-07-15 2019-06-07
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/atlanta/obituary.aspx?n=william-meyers
MEYERS, Dr., William F. MD "Billy" Dr. William (Billy) F. Meyers passed away peacefully on the evening of June 7 th surrounded by his family after courageously fighting Glioblastoma brain tumors for the past year. Billy was born on July 15, 1951, in St. Louis, Missouri. After high school, he left St. Louis for college at Case Western Reserve, where he graduated in 1973. He went on to receive his medical degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia Medical School in 1977 and completed a pediatric residency training at the University of Florida. Following his residency in Gainesville, Billy continued his education at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City, where he completed his fellowship in pediatric gastroenterology. Billy began to pursue his passion for PedsGI. As he moved his family to Temple, Texas and became an active pediatric gastroenterology clinician at Scott and White Hospital and an Associate Professor at Texas A&M School of Medicine. After nine years, Billy followed his calling to Atlanta, Georgia. In 1991, he was invited to join Larry Saripkin and Edith Pilzer in their private pediatric GI practice, Children's Gastroenterology Group, and to serve the children and families of Atlanta. But this was really only the beginning because in 1999, Children's Center for Digestive Health Care or GI Care for Kids was created and Billy was a principal organizer and visionary that brought two major PedsGI groups together as one. Billy, fondly known as the "Stache-Man" was so much more than a doctor. He was one of those people that saw the future of medicine, at home and nationally. He envisioned where he, his partners, and pediatric GI fit into the overall plan. Over the years, Billy earned the respect of his peers at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) and in the community. He worked tirelessly, day after day, for all of his patients, his colleagues in Pediatric GI, his partners, nurses and the patients within the hospital system. Billy found ways to make connections and create paths between physicians, physician groups and the hospital system. He was nationally recognized for his published research on Gastroesophageal Reflux in children and for his clinical expertise in celiac disease, abdominal migraines, and cyclical vomiting syndrome. But much of his efforts were 'behind the scenes'. He was a true bridge-builder, helping recruit clinicians to create the Children's GI Motility (Neurogastroenterology) Program, which is now highly regarded in Atlanta and the Southeast. Additionally, Billy served on numerous hospital committees for CHOA. He was a founding member of The Children's Health Network and served on the founding board of The Children's Care Network (TCCN), both focused on providing quality care. In addition to working on these hospital committees, Billy remained a busy clinician and was the "consummate" road-warrior, traveling to satellite clinics 3-4 days per week. He developed relationships with many of the pediatric medical communities that allowed the establishment of several satellite clinics. Billy loved taking on the most complex and fragile children, the most challenging cases, from the NICU and beyond, and then became his patients' champion for all of their care medical and psycho-social. In his quiet, selfless and doggedly passionate manner, he contributed to pediatric GI to the very end - he WAS pediatric gastroenterology! He was a truly wonderful person and physician, who loved to live life. Besides medicine, celebrating his family and enjoying his canine friends was high on his priority list. Billy was so proud of his children and loved being 'Big Daddy' to his grandchildren. The Meyers family had multiple dogs throughout the years, all which adored him as the 'Alpha Dog'. All those that knew him, will truly miss the Stache-Man's outlook on life, friendship, and family. They will treasure his corny dad jokes, as well as his lectures. He was kind, incredibly hard-working and dedicated to being the best pediatric gastroenterologist, consensus builder, advocate for children and pediatric gastroenterology, colleague, teacher, mentor, brother, husband, brother-in-law, father, father-in-law, Big Daddy, and friend. Recently, the William F. Meyers annual lectureship was established to honor him and his contribution to CHOA and those providers and patients that are served by the system. At the inaugural lectureship, Dr. Jose Garza, the Director of the Neurogastroenterology and Motility Program at CHOA and GI Care for Kids, highlighted their important work, established in large measure by Billy. In addition to the annual lectureship, TCCN developed the William F. Meyers, MD Quality Award in his honor. This award will be presented annually in honor of William F. "Billy" Meyers, who throughout his career has embodied the essence of what a truly good physician should be: caring, knowledgeable, data-driven, empathetic, and dedicated to improving care and the lives of his patients. Billy is survived by CeCe, his wife of 42 years; his children Kara Meyers; Carter Meyers and his wife Yvonne; Kelsey Meyers Kiel and her husband Justin and grandchildren - Lexi Scammacca, Abby Scammacca, Jacob Scammacca, Colt Meyers. He is also survived by his sister, Katy Meyers; nieces, Lauren and Zoe Bennett and brother, Robert Meyers and his wife, Sherri, and nephew, Sam Meyers. A celebration of his life is being planned for later in the summer.