Michael Daly

There's so much I could say about Dr. Daly.  I truly don't know where to begin. I worked for him for almost 8 years.  He was kind, giving, intelligent, very unpolitically correct :), and just the best boss anyone could ever have.  I know he loved his family and spoke of his daughters frequently.  I will miss the get togethers with him and Elizabeth.  I know my husband Mark will miss the hunting and fishing talks.  Mark has even said he will miss bringing pheasants to him. Dr. Daly was the 1st real (father figure)in my life that really took time to teach me.  He never made me feel like there was anything I could not do.  He answered all my questions even when I know he thought they were stupid. HA-HA.  There will never be such a great teacher.  I am very proud to have known him and worked for him. I am so very sorry for his family and pray for there peace and happy memories.  He will be greatly missed.

I haven't known Dr. Mike that long, but he was my "Honduran neighbor" and one incident before I even met him cemented my admiration.  My niece, Kati and I were flying on different airlines to Roatan in 2004 and she was to arrive at RTB before me.  Due to weather between Roatan and the mainland, the flight both she and Dr. Mike were on was held up in San Pedro Sula.  After they figured out that they were both headed to Palmetto Bay Plantation (and both coming from Iowa), he kept a fatherly eye on Kati until she was safely with me in Roatan.  It was probably no big deal to Dr. Mike, but the fact that Kati was being looked after when I couldn't, meant the world to me.

 

This site is an incredible tribute to your husband and dad.  I especially like the video.  Thanks for sharing that and all the photos.

 

It is so hard to believe that next year when I'm sitting at the bar at PBP, Dr. Mike won't be walking up the stairs and pulling out a bar stool to sit and chat.  He will be missed. 

Dear Elizabeth, Claire, Frindee and Louisa: Our thoughts are with you as you deal with the suddenness of Mike's death. There was no time to review a life together no time to say good-bye in the ways we would want. Life is a journey and Mike's life was as full, interesting and meaningful. His was a life of adventure and purpose. He will remain in the hearts and minds of those who knew him. Love, Suki and Don

Dr. Daly was an incredible man and great teacher.  He taught years of residents from the Cedar Rapids Medical Education Foundation and this is where I met him.  He was greatly invested in the education of young doctors and was willing to "push the envelope" in teaching primary care doctors to be proficient in colonoscopy.  Many family physicians in Iowa owe their skills to Dr. Daly.

My months of learning with him were some of my greatest memories of my training.  Even after training I kept in touch with Mike and Elizabeth and I even had the pleasure of having Claire follow me in the office.

My wife had the pleasure of working with him in the OR and he was always well liked by the doctors, the nurses, and the patients.  Not only that, he was an amazing surgeon who could wow everyone with his abilites.  Unlike many in our chosen profession, he was humble and not one to brag.

I will greatly miss Dr. Daly but I know that he leaves a legacy in the hearts of all who knew him.  My thoughts and prayers go out to Elizabeth, the girls and anyone who knew him.  We will always miss you!

Scott Colson, MD
North Clinic
Osseo, MN
2002 Graduate, Cedar Rapids Medical Education Foundation

I had the wonderful pleasure of working for Dr Daly in his office for the five years before he retired.  He was a great man to work for.  I remember when Dr Daly was getting ready to retire and Tammy, his nurse, and I would try and talk him out of it because we enjoyed being around him so much.  We knew he was ready to leave the operating room behind and enjoy his family and Roatan. He had worked very long and hard for that priviledge.   We just didn't want to not see him every day.  He was a very dear and generous person.  I am so glad I got to know him outside of the office, if not for just a short while.   I will miss our talks about flowers and gardening.  Bruce will miss your conversations about everything.  He had an opinion on any topic.  He will trully, trully be missed but never forgotten.  Rest in peace Dr Daly.....you left us all too soon

I was so surprised and so very saddened when I the loss of Dr. Daly.  I worked with him at St Lukes 3W when he came to Cedar Rapids and when I worked in the Emergency Dept.  He was so kind and gentle to his patients and cared so much.  As a nurse you could call him at night and he was never angry at you for calling. 

 

When you saw Dr Daly he always had a smile on his face and always had time to greet you and to answer any questions and take the time you needed with him.  He was a man who was so proud of his family and loved them dearly.  He took my son to the Hospital with him to observation surgery and was such a good teacher.   No matter where you saw him, the hospital, the parking lot, a doctors office ( not his own?) nv or Wal mart he would always take the time to talk with you.  My last encounter with him was last fall when he was shopping at walmart for spices to take back to your other home that he could not get there.  The pride he has in his voice and look on his face when he spoke of his wife, and the girls and the growing of plants in either of your homes.  He was truly on of of a kind.  Working with him doing procedures was fun, he was such a good teacher and  always made you feel confident in what you were doing.   Rest In Peace Dr. Michael Daly, you will be missed but you left so much behind in wonderful memories that will not be forgotten.

Dr. Daly forever will be an icon in the history of Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton, Iowa where he served for many years as the only general surgeon.  Today, VGH has a vibrant and now full time general surgery service that would not have been possible were it not for the foundation laid by Dr. Daly.  We are all very saddened to learn of his passing so early in his hard-earned retirement.

 

He brought innovation to our hospital including laparoscopic surgery as it was evolving.  He was indeed, “old school” in his teachings and precepted many colleagues, including me, to enable us to expand our scope of services.  VGH has a very successful primary care endoscopy service that also could not exist without Dr. Daly’s willingness to help us over the many hurdles in its establishment.

 

I asked him once why the “new generation” of surgeons was unwilling to come out to rural areas and serve the people and he cited his experience in the lonely bamboo huts of Cambodia; I believe that to be true.  We will miss him greatly.

 

Dr. Brian W. Meeker

Chief of Staff Virginia Gay Hospital & Clinics

Vinton, Iowa