Douglas Daly

Douglas C. Daly, MD, 65, passed away peacefully and surrounded by family on October 15 in Allendale, Michigan.

Dr. Daly was born December 25, 1950 in West Hartford, CT. He graduated from Conard High School in West Hartford, CT in 1968. He earned a B.S. at Bates College in 1972. He received a medical degree in 1976 from the University of Connecticut. He subsequently completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, CT and a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the University of Connecticut. He received numerous professional awards and recognitions, including the Howard Levin Award for excellence in research by a University of Connecticut Medical School-Consortium Resident or Fellow in 1982, Obstetrical Society of Boston Prize Paper in 1984 and 1986, Outstanding University of Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Award in 1986 and 1988, and Spectrum Health East/St. Mary's Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award in 1999. He held multiple hospital appointments, including Director of the IVF & Reproductive Endocrinology Program at Blodgett Hospital from 1990 to 2000. He established Grand Rapids Fertility and IVF, PC in 1991. Thousands of families in West Michigan and around the world sought treatment from Dr. Daly's fertility practice. He also held multiple faculty appointments, most recently as a Clinical Associate Professor at Michigan State University. Dr. Daly published dozens of research papers, and was known in the obstetrics and endocrinology field for pioneering new surgical techniques. In 2008, Dr. Daly co-founded the Women's Health Center of West Michigan in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Dr. Daly was a loving father and husband, and is remembered with great fondness and respect by his family members. He was an avid skier and outdoorsman, as well as a lifelong competitive sailor. He earned the National Blue Jay Championship in sailing during his teenage years. He participated in and won numerous regattas as a long-time member at the Grand Rapids Yacht Club. He was also a student of American history.

He is survived by his wife Cherrie, his four children (Daniel, Diana [Kundel], Erik & Amanda), their mother Susan Williams, his two stepchildren (Luke & Bethany Sprague), several grandchildren, his sister Fern MacMillan, and several nieces and nephews.

A private memorial service will be held. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in memory of Dr. Douglas C. Daly to the Heartland Hospice Memorial Fund (heartlandhospicefund.org) and/or RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, an organization that promotes reproductive health and helps to ensure equal access to all family-building options for men and women experiencing infertility or other reproductive disorders (resolve.org). Arrangements are by Dykstra Funeral Homes – Mulder Chapel.