Written by the Family
Mar. 4, 2015: William Robson Nichols Grier died peacefully at home on Saturday, February 22, 2015, with his family by his side.
Dr. Grier was born to Anna Robson Nichols Grier and the Reverend James Cunningham Grier on December 9, 1923, in Caron, Saskatchewan, Canada. He and his sister, Elizabeth Grier Ross (Dr. Hugh Ross), were raised in Campbellford, Lindsay, and Kitchener, Ontario.
Robson had fond memories of his childhood and particularly credits his mother with sparking his interest in medicine. She was an accomplished attorney herself, and her father had been a general surgeon. From a young age when Robson showed an interest working with his hands and figuring out how things worked, she steered his studies toward the sciences. He grew up knowing he wanted to be a surgeon.
Robson was proud to have served in the Canadian army during World War II. Immediately thereafter, he was accepted at the University of Toronto Medical School, graduating in 1946. He received an internship at Bellevue Hospital in New York, which led to his concurrent employment at New York University Medical Center, where he practiced and was a professor of surgery at the medical school until his retirement in 2000. Although a general surgeon, he specialized in and published widely on a variety of cancers. He also enjoyed his annual stints as ship's doctor on the QE2 for over 20 years.
On October 17, 1953, he married the love of his life, Mary Elizabeth Rohan of Boston, MA, whom he had met on a beach while vacationing in Cape Cod. Together they raised their six children in Manhattan during the week and in Sea Cliff, NY, during weekends and summers. In 1969 the family moved to Bronxville, where they resided for 24 years. In spite of his demanding career, he always managed to be actively involved in all of his children's lives, schooling, and interests.
Robson was known to be a candid, earnest, and optimistic man with a kind and giving heart. He possessed a marvelous sense of humor and loved adventure and fun with those he cared for. His family fondly recalls the many station wagon trains to Florida with cousins, rafting and fishing excursions in Canada, and the many trips to Ireland to see relations. He was blessed with a mischievous wit and sentimental heart, which he generously shared.
He is survived by his six children: Peter Robson of Hollidaysburg, PA, Timothy Sean of Alexandria, VA, Jonathan Fraher of Hollidaysburg, PA, Andrew Nichols of Madera, CA, Elizabeth Mary of New York, NY, and Sarah Robson of Derwood, MD, as well as six grandchildren. A private memorial mass in Hollidaysburg, PA, is being arranged.