William John de Groot, 92, of Galveston, passed away Thursday, February 14, 2019, at his residence. He was born in Harrisburg, PA, to Dutch immigrants Frederick A.M. de Groot and Margaret de Bruijn de Groot.  He trained in medicine at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. de Groot moved to Galveston in 1960 and worked at UTMB-Galveston in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine until his retirement in 2008. He taught and mentored generations of medical students, internal medicine residents and pulmonary medicine fellows. He was known for his brilliant analytical mind, his dedication to his patients and for his great capacity for empathy.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Frederick and Margaret, his brothers John and Theodore, his sister-in-law Marie, and his niece Patricia.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 57 years, Irene; by his children and their spouses, Patricia and Marc, Margaret and Stephen, Gabrielle and David, and John and Eleanor; and by his grandchildren, Julia, Shelby, Evelyn, Jeffrey, Alexandra and William. He is also survived by his brother Frederick and wife Patricia, brother Joseph and wife Alice, sister Janet and husband Michael, sister-in-law Chriss, and numerous nieces and nephews.  He will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

Dr. de Groot’s family will receive visitors from 5:00 until 7:00 pm, Sunday, February 17, at Malloy & Son Funeral Home.

Funeral Mass will be 10:00 am Monday, February 18, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church with a reception following at Ashton Villa, 2328 Broadway, in Galveston. Graveside services will be held at 2 pm at Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

His family extends their heartfelt thanks to the many talented and exceptional people who took care of him in the last months of his life and who helped to ease his transition from this life to the next.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Dr. de Groot’s favorite charity, Doctors Without Borders, www.doctorswithoutborders.org; or to the Red Cloud Indian School, www.redcloudschool.org.