Education & Professional Career
Mayo earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1883. Afterwards he returned to Rochester to practice medicine alongside his father and his brother Charles.
On August 21, 1883, a terrible tornado struck Rochester, killing 24 people and seriously injuring over 40 others. One-third of the town was destroyed, but young Dr. Will and his family escaped serious harm. The relief efforts began immediately with a temporary hospital being established at the town's dance hall. The Drs. Mayo were extensively involved in treating the injured who were brought there for help Mother Alfred Moes and the Sisters of Saint Francis were called in to act as nurses (despite the fact they were trained as teachers and had little if any medical experience)
After the crisis had subsided, Mother Alfred Moes approached William Worrall Mayo about establishing a hospital in Rochester. On September 30, 1889, the dream became reality as Saint Mary's Hospital opened its doors. Dr. W.W. Mayo (who by this time was 70 years of age) became the consulting physician and surgeon at the hospital, and his two sons began seeing patients and performing surgery with the assistance of the Sisters of Saint Francis. William J. Mayo died in July 1939 of gastric carcinoma (stomach cancer) in Rochester, MN. Ironically, that tumor had been a major focus of his surgical practice. Dr. Mayo is buried near his parents and brother at Oakwood Cemetery in Rochester.
The United States Postal Service printed a stamp depicting him and his brother, Charles Horace Mayo, on September 11, 1964.
The Dr. William J. Mayo House in Rochester, Minnesota is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Read more about this topic: William James Mayo
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