Necrology
William Henry Nauen '67
Jun. 25, 1945-Jan. 22, 2021
For much of his career, William Henry Nauen ’67 was there for major moments in his patients’ lives, supporting them through illness, injuries, pregnancy, and birth. He was a family practitioner in a small town north of Syracuse, N.Y.
Later, Nauen left that work to take a position as medical director for the local office of Travelers insurance company.
A runner, he would routinely tackle 10 miles or more, yet in 1994, on a short jog, he had a massive heart attack. He fought back but suffered memory damage that would keep him from ever working with patients again, his published obituary said. Nauen faced that bravely, seeking ways to stay engaged and helpful.
“His philosophy was to give time, give love, give the benefit of the doubt, and never give up,” the obituary noted.
Nauen died on Jan. 22, 2021, in Syracuse. He lived most of his life in Central and Western New York. He was born on June 25, 1945, in Olean, N.Y., the son of Dr. Richard Nauen and Ruth Walsh Nauen, a housewife. His father was medical director for tuberculosis hospitals. The family would travel to the national parks in the West, which is how Nauen developed a deep love for nature, his obituary noted.
Nauen prepared for college at East Rochester (N.Y.) High School. At Hamilton, he majored in biology. Among his extracurricular pursuits were playing football and serving as a class officer. He joined Delta Upsilon fraternity, played Frisbee, and was a member of the brass choir. Years later, when a College questionnaire asked how Hamilton had prepared him for his life and career, he answered that it taught him that working hard brought success.
After Hamilton, he entered Upstate Medical University in nearby Syracuse to earn his medical degree. During his internship in Albany, Nauen’s vision for his medical career began to take shape. “I began to appreciate medicine as an ultimate combination of art and science, of humanism and business,” he wrote in his 25th reunion yearbook.
After his internship, he served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Public Health Service from 1972 to 1974, receiving a Distinguished Service Award. He worked with the Chickasaw Nation in southern Oklahoma. Nauen observed in his reunion yearbook that for him and his wife, Sharon Onderdonk Nauen, that period was like a “marital retreat” and “our own Walden Pond.” He also said that’s when he knew he wanted to be a family physician.
For many years Nauen was on the teaching faculty at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse. He volunteered at the Upstate Medical Center Library, with the Syracuse Rose Society, and with Meals on Wheels. He loved sailing, cross-country skiing, hiking and walking, and sharing his joy at being outdoors with family and friends, human or canine, his family said. They described him as a soccer coach, photographer, water-skier, master camper, puzzle-solver, early-riser, and fort-builder who didn’t waste time with unkind words or holding grudges.
“His core personality was structured around planning, perseverance, and patience, and these attributes, only strengthened by his injury, carried him far beyond it,” they wrote in his obituary.
Survivors include his wife, four children, and four grandchildren.
