All are invited to a memorial service for William (Bill) Dayton Carrell, Jr at 1:00pm, Friday, March 20, at Saint Philip’s. A reception will follow in Saint Anne’s Center.

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of your servant William, and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer, Burial of the Dead, Rite II

Bill was born in Tucson on April 2, 1935, son of Dr. William Dayton Carrell, Sr, and Lela Townsend Carrell. He passed away peacefully on March 4, 2026, at the age of 90, preceded in death by his parents, his sisters Juanita, Helen, and Nancy Lee, and by his beloved wife of 55 years, Melinda Thomas Carrell. He is survived by children Jennifer Carrell Helenbolt (Johnny) and Ayden Carrell, granddaughter Jasmine Helenbolt and honorary grandson Thomas Mims (Beth) and their daughter Liliana, as well as by sister-in-law Liz Ogilvy (Dave), nephews John Alexander (John Lipsey), Stephen Alexander (Michelle), and Tom Alexander (Laura), grandniece Catie and grandnephews Ryan (Patri de la Fuente Cruz), Henry, and Grant Alexander. He shared the last decade of his life with companion Nancy Down.

A man of integrity and honor, of warm smiles, rollicking laughter, and rock-solid stability, he was a pillar of his family and the Tucson medical community.

Bill graduated from Tucson High School in 1953, followed by a bachelor’s from Stanford University in 1957 and an MD from George Washington University in 1962. He married Melinda Ann Thomas of Phoenix, the love of his life, in 1959. Following residency in Long Beach, he served in the U.S. Air Force 803rd Medical Group at Davis-Monthan from 1966-68. In 1968, he went into private practice in Internal Medicine, serving Tucson as a primary care doctor for 32 years, until his retirement in 2000. In addition to practicing as a member of Tucson Medical Center’s active medical staff, he served on the hospital’s Board of Trustees from 1982-1995, as Medical Chief of Staff from 1984-85, and on numerous TMC committees.

He was a leading member of many local organizations, serving as President of Davis-Monthan 50, the Medical Reserve Corps of Southern Arizona, and the Lester and Roberta Smith Foundation. He also served on the board of directors of the Tucson Conquistadores, Arizona Town Hall, the Pima County Medical Society, and the Univ of Arizona Arthritis Center’s Southwestern Clinic and Research Institute (SCARI). He was a lifelong parishioner of St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church.

Bill was happiest with family and friends in the great outdoors, hunting, fly-fishing, and camping. If he wasn’t outside under a wide Arizona sky or building something in his workshop, he liked to cook up feasts and gather the people he loved around the dinner table.