Thomas A. Delaney

Thomas A. Delaney, M.D., died on March 17, 2026, in Danville, California, where he had lived since 2006. He was 88 years old. The cause of death was cancer.

He was born on May 9, 1937, in Clayton, New York, the first of six children of Ida Louise McAvoy Delaney and John J. Delaney, Jr. He graduated from Clayton Central School in 1954, earned his B.A. from Cornell University in 1958, and his M.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1962.

On June 24, 1961, he married Ishabel G. MacIntosh of Ossining, New York, who became the mother of their four children. She died October 26, 2002.

Following a surgical internship and one year of residency at the University of Utah Hospitals in Salt Lake City, he was drafted into military service from 1964 to 1966. He served on the surgical staff at the Naval Hospital in Millington, Tennessee, and with the Marines at a field hospital in Phu Bai, South Vietnam.

After his discharge, he completed five additional years of surgical residency at the University of Cincinnati. In 1971, he joined the private practice of Drs. Montanus, McLemore and Goettman in Springfield, Ohio, as a general, thoracic, and vascular surgeon. He later served as Director of the Department of Surgery at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield from 1983 until his retirement in 1992.

Following retirement, he and Ishabel moved to Boulder, Colorado. In addition to skiing, writing, and golf, he became an avid birdwatcher and naturalist. He served on the board of the Boulder County Nature Association and volunteered as a naturalist with Boulder County Parks and Open Space department.

Three years after Ishabel’s death, while on a birdwatching trip to Nova Scotia, he met Judy Johnstone of Danville, California. The following year, he moved to Danville to be with her. Together, they shared a love of birding and traveled widely, visiting Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya, Ecuador, Panama, Belize, and many other destinations. Also, during this time, he authored a memoir, Notes from East Line Road: A Surgeon’s Journey, which was published in 2012.

In addition to Judy Johnstone, he is survived by his four children and six grandchildren: Allison D. Mercer and her sons, Jacob and Thomas”Ty” Mercer; Ashlyn D. Pratt (Dan) and their children, Drake and Regan Pratt; John J. Delaney (Jessie) and their daughter, Ariana; and Thomas A. Delaney “Tad” (Michele) and his daughter, Isabelle.

He is also survived by two brothers, J. Donald Delaney and Francis W. Delaney, both of Clayton, New York; and two sisters, Marcia McGann of Rochester, New York, and Catherine Hungerford of Houston, Texas.

A graveside service will be held this summer in Clayton, New York at St. Mary’s Cemetery. Local arrangements are with Cummings Funeral Service, Inc., Clayton and online condolences to Tom's family may be posted at www.cummingsfuneral.com.