William Culpepper Haile, Sr. MD, passed away Friday, September 30, 2016 at his residence. A long-time resident of Baton Rouge, he was born on January 29, 1923, in Ansley, LA. He attended Northwestern State University (formerly Louisiana Normal College) on a basketball scholarship and played for the NSU Demons for two years, which was interrupted by the onset of WWII. He joined the Naval Reserve, which provided an entry to Officers Training and then Medical school at the LSU Medical School in New Orleans, LA, completing his residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Upon completion of his medical education in 1947, he entered the Air Force as a Captain in the US Air Force and served as the Head OB/GYN at the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage Alaska during the Korean War He moved to Baton Rouge in 1952 and started his practice of OB/GYN as a staff doctor at Stana-Cola Medical Center. He later started an independent private practice which eventually grew into a multi-physician partnership, which has continued to be an important part of his life through continued relationships with many of his valued co-workers and staff. He was a part of the twenty OB/GYN physicians who created the Woman's Hospital Foundation which lead to the building and opening of Women's Hospital. He was the last of the original founders until his death, but continued to be involved in Woman's Hospital activities such as the grand opening of the new Woman's Hospital and meetings of the Foundation as recently as two weeks ago. He was often described as a caring and compassionate physician and an empathetic listener and care provider. His exceptional career was only surpassed by his commitment to his family, where he was a wise mentor and loving husband and father to his family and extended family. As busy as he was with his OB/GYN practice, he always had time for whatever was needed by family and friends, whether it meant spending his lunch hour pitching balls to his children or being a presence at all of the activities that six children presented. He was preceded in death by his wife of 40 years, Anne Prosser Haile. He is survived his wife of 24 years, Ann Evans Haile; one brother Rev. George Haile and his wife, Gay; four sons: Mark Haile and his wife Mary, William C. Haile, Jr., David Haile and his wife Monica, John Haile and his wife Robin; two daughters Carol Haile Wells and her husband Dru Wells, Kathryn Haile Davis and her husband Mike Davis, eight grandchildren and one great grand child. In addition he is survived by and embraced 5 stepchildren: Melisa Gallison and her husband Joe, Sandra Hebert, Tela Lewis and her husband Jeff, Connie Jordan and her husband Alan, Mark Evans and his wife Robbie. He loved his home town of Ansley and attended their homecoming annually, crediting Ansley and the strong upbringing of his roots with the man he became. He loved golf, teaching his sons to play, then in his retirement years playing with his regular golf group as a member of the Baton Rouge Country Club. He was a general sports enthusiast and loved watching and talking sports with family and friends. He enjoyed LSU Tiger sports and was an active Alumni of the Northwestern State Demons Basketball team, supporting the sport with a basketball scholarship in his name. Having been raised in a small north Louisiana town where his family livelihood was related to farming, he continued his interest in his yard and his vegetable garden throughout the remainder of his life. Visitation will be at Rabenhorst Funeral Home East, 11000 Florida Blvd. Monday October 3, 2016 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. and Tuesday, October 4, 2016, from 9:00 a.m. until religious services at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow in Greenoaks Memorial Park. Pallbearers will be Mike Davis, Dru Wells, Nick Hluchy, Matt Paxton, Robert Wells and Mark Wells. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations may be made to The Foundation for Women's on the website: www.Womans.org.

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