Roehll, 91, died Dec. 23 at his Hilton Head home where he and his wife of 67 years moved three years ago. She died in 2018.
Snelling started working for Roehll’s cardiology practice in 1985, and after the office closed, she made occasional trips from her home in Monroe to Hilton Head to help care for the Roehlls. Then she moved to the island.
“He was such a kind man who loved his town, loved people,” Snelling said. “He had such a big heart.”
It seems the heart was always on his mind.
He introduced cardiac rehabilitation, nuclear imaging, nuclear cardiology, and heart failure treatment to the Middletown area. He also was responsible for teaching families and the business community about the life-saving benefits of CPR and heart defibrillator technologies before they were widely used.
He served on a board of the American Heart Association and was a driving force behind its annual golf tournament that was held for 20 years. Roehll had two requirements: He wanted a cardiology expert to give an educational seminar before the tournament and he wanted the tournament to honor three people who died of heart disease, said Ray Meyer, former regional director for the American Heart Association of Butler and Warren County.
“To the heart association, he was automatic credibility because he was the authority on heart disease in Middletown,” Meyer said.
Meyer remembers years ago when he received a call from Roehll. He had heard about an article in a medical journal and he asked Meyer to drive to the University of Cincinnati Medical Library, make a copy of the article, then fax it to his office.
Roehll wanted to discuss the medical advancement with a patient that afternoon, Meyer said.
“He always wanted the latest information,” Meyer said. “He cared about his patients.”
He also cared about the Middletown community.
Roehll served 13 years as the hospital’s medical director, 11 years on the board of directors and was active in the Middletown Symphony Orchestra, Middletown Rotary Club, the American Heart Association and Brown’s Run Country Club.
After earning his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati, two years service in the U.S. Air Force and a cardiology fellowship at Duke University, Roehll returned to Middletown in 1962 and joined his father’s internal medicine practice.
He joined the hospital staff on July 2, 1962. His father, Walter Roehll Sr. practiced in Middletown from 1923-1967, meaning at least one Roehll practiced in Middletown for more than 90 years.
He is survived by daughters Debi (Mike) Lynes and Lori (David) Crib, both of Hilton Head; sons John (Mindy) Roehll of Mesa, Ariz., and Geoff (Jan) Roehll of Naperville, Ill.; nine grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements are not yet completed.
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