Dr. William Hanavan

Dr. William Francis Hanavan II died peacefully on Sept. 4, 2025 at home in Cleveland Heights, OH. He had received treatment for glioblastoma after his diagnosis in March. Bill was born in Buffalo, NY on March 15, 1954 to Gretchen "Mimi" Coit and William M. Hanavan. He graduated from Nichols School and Cornell University, and worked in the microbiology lab at New York Hospital for three years before attending SUNY at Buffalo School of Medicine. He and Patricia Relf had met at Cornell, and they married in 1981. Bill did his residency and a fellowship in gastroenterology at Case Western Reserve University. He was a beloved physician for nearly 30 years in Kalamazoo, MI. He loved his job, his patients, and his coworkers. He retired to Cleveland Heights in 2017. Bill--known as Bunky in early childhood and as a grandfather--was smart and hilarious; unconcerned with the dictates of fashion, schedules, and social norms; and unfailingly kind and generous. He loved bicycling and traveling and adored his family. As a life-long environmentalist, he started planting trees at his Richland, MI home and was soon bringing trees to friends' homes the way most people bring bottles of wine. When he moved to Ohio, he helped to found the Heights Tree People, a non-profit that plants free front-yard shade trees to restore the canopy. In the course of 40 years, he planted thousands of trees, a legacy for generations to come. He is survived by his wife Pat; daughters Louise Hanavan (Silas) of Wolfville, NS, and Emily Leslie (Alexander) of Cleveland Heights; grandchildren Hilda Hanavan, and Theodore and Beatrice Leslie; siblings Lisa Klepfer (Jim), and Thompson Hanavan (Colleen Glair); and many dear friends who had become family to him. Celebratory tree-planting and gathering to be arranged. Memorial donations may be made to Heights Tree People, Palestine Children's Relief Fund, or ACLU of Ohio.