Dr. Hayling, founder of 100 Black Men Inc., dies at 94

From City News Service

LOS ANGELES — Dr. William H. Hayling, who worked for many years at Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital and was a faculty member at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, has died at the age of 94, the nonprofit 100 Black Men of Los Angeles organization that he founded in 1981 has announced.

Hayling, who died Oct. 2, was “one of the original visionaries and industry leaders that met in New York City to develop the concept of the ‘100 Black Men,’” according to a statement released by the organization that says he “pioneered the formation of both the New Jersey and Los Angeles chapters and was pivotal in bringing the various 100 Black Men organizations under the single banner of 100 Black Men of America Inc.”

Hayling served as the first national president of the organization from 1986-1990.

The Trenton, New Jersey native was inspired to enter the medical field by his physician father, who died when Hayling was a teenager. At the age of 17, he was admitted to Boston University, where he majored in pre-medicine while playing both varsity baseball and basketball. At the age of 19, he was admitted to Howard University College of Medicine.

Upon graduation from Howard, Hayling completed an internship at Harlem Hospital in New York and began a residency in obstetrics. In 1951, he was drafted into the U.S. Army Medical Corps as a captain and served as a battlefield surgeon with a MASH unit in Korea, earning a Bronze Star.

Upon returning to New York, he completed his residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx.

He closed his private practice in Newark after 38 years and relocated to Los Angeles, where he became chief of ambulatory obstetrics and gynecology at Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital. From 1981 until 1998, he was a faculty member at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.

After 17 years at King/Drew, he continued to care for patients at a family medical clinic in Lynwood. According to 100 Black Men, Hayling delivered more than 8,000 babies while providing maternal care for thousands of women over the course of his 55-year medical career.

His passions were caring for underprivileged women and the mentoring and development of youth through the 100 Black Men organization. He also volunteered with Mentoring Today for Tomorrow, an after-school program for young people ages 9 through 18 in Riverside County.

Hayling’s survivors include is wife, Carolyn, daughters Pamela Hayling Hoffman and Patricia Hayling Price and their spouses, and several grandchildren.
Donations in his honor may be made to the Young Black Scholars Program of the 100 Black Men of Los Angeles at www.100bmla.net.