In Memoriam
The physicians and staff of BMA
want to pay tribute
to our colleagues
who have recently died.
want to pay tribute
to our colleagues
who have recently died.
PAUL KANTROWITZ, MD
2024
It is with heavy hearts that we share the news of the passing of our former colleague Paul Kantrowitz, MD, former Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at Mount Auburn Hospital.
Dr. Kantrowitz, born on July 10, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, graduated with a medical degree from Columbia University in 1958. He completed his internship at Mount Sinai and his residency at Boston City Hospital and Mass General Hospital (MGH), followed by a fellowship in Gastroenterology at MGH. He then joined the Mount in 1967 when he founded the Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Kantrowitz remained dedicated to the Mount even after transitioning to Emeritus.
Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Kantrowitz made significant contributions to our hospital and the field of Gastroenterology. He served on the Medical Staff Executive Committee from 1989 to 1994 and held the esteemed position of MAH Medical Staff President from 1991 to 1992. As Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology from 1973 to 2015, he played a pivotal role in its growth and development, expanding the provision of office-based and endoscopic GI care for the MAH community. Dr. Kantrowitz was also active in medical education and continued to teach at Harvard Medical School after his retirement.
Dr. Kantrowitz was not only an accomplished physician and teacher but also a kind, patient, and caring individual who provided exemplary care to his patients. His dedication and compassion earned him the admiration and respect of all members of the GI staff, from physicians to nurses and support staff alike.
As we mourn the loss of a dear colleague and friend, let us remember Dr. Kantrowitz's legacy and the indelible mark he left on our hospital and the countless lives he touched. Information about services to honor his memory will be forthcoming.
Our sincerest condolences go out to his family, friends and patients.
Dr. Kantrowitz, born on July 10, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, graduated with a medical degree from Columbia University in 1958. He completed his internship at Mount Sinai and his residency at Boston City Hospital and Mass General Hospital (MGH), followed by a fellowship in Gastroenterology at MGH. He then joined the Mount in 1967 when he founded the Division of Gastroenterology. Dr. Kantrowitz remained dedicated to the Mount even after transitioning to Emeritus.
Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Kantrowitz made significant contributions to our hospital and the field of Gastroenterology. He served on the Medical Staff Executive Committee from 1989 to 1994 and held the esteemed position of MAH Medical Staff President from 1991 to 1992. As Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology from 1973 to 2015, he played a pivotal role in its growth and development, expanding the provision of office-based and endoscopic GI care for the MAH community. Dr. Kantrowitz was also active in medical education and continued to teach at Harvard Medical School after his retirement.
Dr. Kantrowitz was not only an accomplished physician and teacher but also a kind, patient, and caring individual who provided exemplary care to his patients. His dedication and compassion earned him the admiration and respect of all members of the GI staff, from physicians to nurses and support staff alike.
As we mourn the loss of a dear colleague and friend, let us remember Dr. Kantrowitz's legacy and the indelible mark he left on our hospital and the countless lives he touched. Information about services to honor his memory will be forthcoming.
Our sincerest condolences go out to his family, friends and patients.
STEFAN SCHATSKI, MD
2024
It is with great sadness we share with you the passing of our friend and colleague, Stefan Conrad Schatzki, MD, FACR. Dr. Stefan Schatzki died after a short illness on Saturday, Jan. 20. During his remarkable tenure at Mount Auburn Hospital, Dr. Schatzki brought the burgeoning field of advanced imaging to Mount Auburn Hospital.
Dr. Schatzki was born in Leipzig, Germany and emigrated with his family to Belmont, MA in 1933, where he was raised. After attending Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, he pursued a career as a Diagnostic Radiologist and trained at Massachusetts General Hospital and Walter Reed Medical Center. He received subspeciality training in interventional radiology in Sweden. Dr. Schatzki joined his father in the practice of diagnostic and interventional radiology at Mount Auburn Hospital in 1963.
Dr. Schatzki served as Chair of the Department of Radiology from 1970 – 1998. He introduced CT scan technology, US, and MRI as well as introduced interventional radiology techniques to the Mount Auburn community. Dr. Schatzki focused his clinical interest on neuroradiology while maintaining his abilities as a general radiologist with particular skill as a fluoroscopist. Dr. Schatzki served as Director of the Radiology Residency program for over 20 years. He was an analytical thinker who taught his trainees to approach the literature with a critical eye and to be creative, caring doctors who always put the patient first. His weekly neuroradiology rounds, where he would interpret imaging ‘on the fly,’ inspired many of his trainees to pursue neuroradiology as a career choice. Dr. Schatzki was an expert in American art in Medicine and published over 100 articles in radiology on the topic. In addition to his passion for radiology, he had a love of opera and it wasn’t unusual to hear his voice ringing through the halls of the department.
Dr. Schatzki’s impact as a superb clinician, leader and educator were only exceeded by his philanthropic spirit. He was an original member of the Physician Leadership Circle and remained an active member of our Board of Advisors.
Dr. Schatzki was born in Leipzig, Germany and emigrated with his family to Belmont, MA in 1933, where he was raised. After attending Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, he pursued a career as a Diagnostic Radiologist and trained at Massachusetts General Hospital and Walter Reed Medical Center. He received subspeciality training in interventional radiology in Sweden. Dr. Schatzki joined his father in the practice of diagnostic and interventional radiology at Mount Auburn Hospital in 1963.
Dr. Schatzki served as Chair of the Department of Radiology from 1970 – 1998. He introduced CT scan technology, US, and MRI as well as introduced interventional radiology techniques to the Mount Auburn community. Dr. Schatzki focused his clinical interest on neuroradiology while maintaining his abilities as a general radiologist with particular skill as a fluoroscopist. Dr. Schatzki served as Director of the Radiology Residency program for over 20 years. He was an analytical thinker who taught his trainees to approach the literature with a critical eye and to be creative, caring doctors who always put the patient first. His weekly neuroradiology rounds, where he would interpret imaging ‘on the fly,’ inspired many of his trainees to pursue neuroradiology as a career choice. Dr. Schatzki was an expert in American art in Medicine and published over 100 articles in radiology on the topic. In addition to his passion for radiology, he had a love of opera and it wasn’t unusual to hear his voice ringing through the halls of the department.
Dr. Schatzki’s impact as a superb clinician, leader and educator were only exceeded by his philanthropic spirit. He was an original member of the Physician Leadership Circle and remained an active member of our Board of Advisors.
FRANK VITTIMBERGA, MD
2024
It is with great sadness we share with you the passing of our friend and colleague, Frank "Vitt" Vittimberga, MD. Dr. Vittimberga passed away on Sunday, Jan. 21. Dr. Vittimberga spent the majority of his career at Mount Auburn Hospital where he was known as a brilliant surgeon, a mentor to countless residents, and a highly respected colleague.
Dr. Vittimberga grew up in Watertown and graduated from Harvard College in 1958. He then attended Tufts Medical School and completed his surgical residency at Boston City Hospital. He was a distinguished Dr. Michael DeBakey Baylor College of Surgery fellow in vascular surgery. He also served as U.S.A.F. Major during the Vietnam War, where he operated on hundreds of soldiers and their families.
Dr. Vittimberga spent the majority of his career at Mount Auburn Hospital where he served as Chief of Vascular Surgery and was known as a brilliant surgeon, a mentor to countless residents, and a highly respected colleague. For 47 years at Mount Auburn, he embodied the definition of the “gentleman surgeon” and is credited by many former trainees as the reason they chose a career in vascular surgery. He cared for his patients with dignity and compassion. In 2013, he was honored by Boston Magazine for helping to save the life of an MBTA police officer shot during the Boston Marathon bombing aftermath. His absence will be felt, his presence missed but preserved in the denizens he trained and who continue to serve patients as he did.
Dr. Vittimberga grew up in Watertown and graduated from Harvard College in 1958. He then attended Tufts Medical School and completed his surgical residency at Boston City Hospital. He was a distinguished Dr. Michael DeBakey Baylor College of Surgery fellow in vascular surgery. He also served as U.S.A.F. Major during the Vietnam War, where he operated on hundreds of soldiers and their families.
Dr. Vittimberga spent the majority of his career at Mount Auburn Hospital where he served as Chief of Vascular Surgery and was known as a brilliant surgeon, a mentor to countless residents, and a highly respected colleague. For 47 years at Mount Auburn, he embodied the definition of the “gentleman surgeon” and is credited by many former trainees as the reason they chose a career in vascular surgery. He cared for his patients with dignity and compassion. In 2013, he was honored by Boston Magazine for helping to save the life of an MBTA police officer shot during the Boston Marathon bombing aftermath. His absence will be felt, his presence missed but preserved in the denizens he trained and who continue to serve patients as he did.
KATHERINE RANERE
2022
2022
RANERE, Kathrine Coady Of Plymouth, MA, passed away peacefully at home with her family at her side on October 18, 2022, at age 74. Kathy is survived by her beloved husband, Dr. Stephen Ranere; and their children, Suzanne Norris and her husband, Jack of Cohasset, Stephen Ranere and his wife, Kristen of Sudbury, and Kathrine Hughes and her husband, Kit of Uxbridge. She was the proud Grammy of nine adoring grandchildren, Kathy was born in Fall River, MA, and spent the happiest years of her life living in Belmont, MA, where she and Steve raised their three children. She attended the Academy of the Assumption high school in Wellesley, the University of Massachusetts in Boston, the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and the Newton-Wellesley Hospital Nursing School in Newton. Kathy started her nursing career at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and then transferred to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Brighton, MA, where she started its first dialysis unit. Her nursing career led her to take an active role in the administration of hospitals, and she later served as the Director of Marketing and Communications at Sancta Maria Hospital in Cambridge, MA. She won the prestigious Sword of Hope award for her article on malignant melanoma, and she co-authored a Massachusetts State House of Representatives Bill that introduced the concept of convalescent care. She was also on the board of the Women's Golf Association of Massachusetts and managed the Massachusetts Junior Golf Girls State team. After retiring from her professional career, she continued her lifelong passion for learning. Her interests spanned many areas, including classical music, golf, Italian and Irish culture, great literature, and trivia. Ever the consummate entertainer, Kathy hosted countless holiday dinners and other festive occasions for generations of family and friends, often filling the room with music as she played her beloved piano.
MICHAEL KJELSBERG, MD
2022
It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that we share news of the passing of Michael “Mike” Andrew Kjelsberg, MD. Over the last two decades, we were privileged to have Mike as a member of the Mount Auburn community.
Mike graduated magna cum laude in Chemistry from Princeton University. He attended Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, followed by an internal medicine residency at Duke University Medical Center. He completed his Cardiovascular and Interventional Cardiology Fellowships at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 2002, Mike joined the Mount as an interventional cardiologist and the Associate Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab. His career blossomed from that point on and he made countless contributions to our patients and staff.
In 2015, Mike was appointed Chief of the Division of Cardiology. He advanced the offerings of cardiovascular care through completing mid-career training in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and bringing structural heart disease care to our patients. He served on committees at Mount Auburn Cambridge Independent Practice Association (MACIPA) and the hospital to positively impact changes to our workforce. He was also honored as a Top Doctor by Boston Magazine numerous times and was highly regarded regionally as an outstanding interventional cardiologist. This year, he is also being awarded the Physician's Leadership Circle Emeritus Award winner.
Mike was an exceptional teacher to many providers as well as internal medicine residents, Harvard medical students, and MIT students. He made teaching a central part of his professional life. He received the Clinician Teacher Award from the Internal Medicine Residency program and the Leo A. Blacklow Teaching Award from Harvard Medical School.
Mike passed away on Sunday, Aug.21 surrounded by his family. He is remembered as a phenomenal teacher, a strong advocate for his patients, and above all, a gentle and kind person and leader. There will be a private funeral followed by a celebration of life service at a future date. To read his full obituary, click here.
Mike’s family and friends are in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. His many friends in the Division of Cardiology and we - at the Mount - will miss him dearly.
Honoring Dr. Kjelsberg
Mount Auburn Hospital is honoring Mike’s legacy in several ways. Starting Tuesday, Aug. 23, at 9 a.m., the flag outside the Stanton lobby will fly at half mast for the remainder of the week.
We are also pleased to establish The Michael A. Kjelsberg Award for Clinical and Teaching Excellence in Cardiovascular Disease – “The Mikey” and the Annual Michael A. Kjelsberg Lecture in Cardiovascular Disease. The lecture will advance his mission of educating the next generation of cardiologists by providing funds to bring guest speakers to the Mount for an annual lecture on Cardiovascular Disease. If you are interested in donating funds to either program, please contact Martin Richman, VP of Philanthropy. Additional information about these programs will be available soon.
Mike graduated magna cum laude in Chemistry from Princeton University. He attended Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, followed by an internal medicine residency at Duke University Medical Center. He completed his Cardiovascular and Interventional Cardiology Fellowships at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 2002, Mike joined the Mount as an interventional cardiologist and the Associate Director of the Cardiac Catheterization Lab. His career blossomed from that point on and he made countless contributions to our patients and staff.
In 2015, Mike was appointed Chief of the Division of Cardiology. He advanced the offerings of cardiovascular care through completing mid-career training in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and bringing structural heart disease care to our patients. He served on committees at Mount Auburn Cambridge Independent Practice Association (MACIPA) and the hospital to positively impact changes to our workforce. He was also honored as a Top Doctor by Boston Magazine numerous times and was highly regarded regionally as an outstanding interventional cardiologist. This year, he is also being awarded the Physician's Leadership Circle Emeritus Award winner.
Mike was an exceptional teacher to many providers as well as internal medicine residents, Harvard medical students, and MIT students. He made teaching a central part of his professional life. He received the Clinician Teacher Award from the Internal Medicine Residency program and the Leo A. Blacklow Teaching Award from Harvard Medical School.
Mike passed away on Sunday, Aug.21 surrounded by his family. He is remembered as a phenomenal teacher, a strong advocate for his patients, and above all, a gentle and kind person and leader. There will be a private funeral followed by a celebration of life service at a future date. To read his full obituary, click here.
Mike’s family and friends are in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. His many friends in the Division of Cardiology and we - at the Mount - will miss him dearly.
Honoring Dr. Kjelsberg
Mount Auburn Hospital is honoring Mike’s legacy in several ways. Starting Tuesday, Aug. 23, at 9 a.m., the flag outside the Stanton lobby will fly at half mast for the remainder of the week.
We are also pleased to establish The Michael A. Kjelsberg Award for Clinical and Teaching Excellence in Cardiovascular Disease – “The Mikey” and the Annual Michael A. Kjelsberg Lecture in Cardiovascular Disease. The lecture will advance his mission of educating the next generation of cardiologists by providing funds to bring guest speakers to the Mount for an annual lecture on Cardiovascular Disease. If you are interested in donating funds to either program, please contact Martin Richman, VP of Philanthropy. Additional information about these programs will be available soon.
DIANNE MUNSON, MD
2022
We are saddened to note the death of Dianne Munson, MD, longtime Primary Care Physician (PCP) at Mount Auburn Hospital. She passed away June 30.
For over 25 years, Diane was one of the Mount’s great PCPs and a devoted teacher. Diane graduated from Tufts Medical School in 1975 and spent time at Carney Hospital working in Hematology and Oncology. In 1995, she joined Mount Auburn as a primary care provider at Mount Auburn Medical Associates (MAMA). In 1999, she transitioned to Marino Center and was pivotal in building the collaborative Integrative and Functional Medicine Center that supports our patients today.
Those who worked closely with her describe her as being an incredibly devoted physician, caring for her patients with precision, dedication and constancy. Dianne was thoughtful with her elderly patient population, gently guiding them through the aging process. During her tenure, she also specialized in the primary care of patients with eating disorders. She cared for these patients with compassion and commitment. She taught her students and staff to do such as well.
In addition to her physician responsibilities, she was the ultimate teacher, precepting Internal Medicine Residents from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, MAH and Allied Health students from Northeastern. In 2020, Diane retired leaving many patients and staff missing their devoted PCP.
For over 25 years, Diane was one of the Mount’s great PCPs and a devoted teacher. Diane graduated from Tufts Medical School in 1975 and spent time at Carney Hospital working in Hematology and Oncology. In 1995, she joined Mount Auburn as a primary care provider at Mount Auburn Medical Associates (MAMA). In 1999, she transitioned to Marino Center and was pivotal in building the collaborative Integrative and Functional Medicine Center that supports our patients today.
Those who worked closely with her describe her as being an incredibly devoted physician, caring for her patients with precision, dedication and constancy. Dianne was thoughtful with her elderly patient population, gently guiding them through the aging process. During her tenure, she also specialized in the primary care of patients with eating disorders. She cared for these patients with compassion and commitment. She taught her students and staff to do such as well.
In addition to her physician responsibilities, she was the ultimate teacher, precepting Internal Medicine Residents from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, MAH and Allied Health students from Northeastern. In 2020, Diane retired leaving many patients and staff missing their devoted PCP.
LINDA TEMTE, MD
2021
TEMTE, Linda M.D. Age 81, of Spring Island, SC, passed away from leukemia on Saturday, July 24, 2021.
She was born October 25, 1939 in Wisconsin Rapids, WI, the daughter of the late Howard and Verna (Denniston) Kortkamp.
She married Dr. Carl J. Canzanelli July 30, 1983. They spent many fulfilling years together, building three homes and traveling around the world, and later shared their retirement living on Spring Island, SC, and summering in Naples, ME.
Linda obtained her undergraduate degree in 1961 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After a ten year break to raise her children, she resumed her education at Tufts University School of Medicine, receiving her Doctorate of Medicine in 1974. She later returned to the University of Wisconsin to earn a Master's Degree in Hospital Administration. She spent her entire career at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, serving numerous roles including Physician in Internal Medicine and President of the Medical Staff. She retired in 2004 as Assistant Chair, Department of Medicine and Medical Director of Quality Improvement. Over the years, she was recognized for providing exceptional patient care and will be remembered by her colleagues and patients as a skilled, compassionate doctor, as well as an excellent administrator.
While very proud of her professional accomplishments, Linda took great joy in spending time with her family, traveling, gardening, crafting, and reading. She volunteered for many years with the Native Plant Project of the Spring Island Trust and at the Naples Public Library.
She is survived by her beloved husband Dr. Carl J. Canzanelli; children, Terri (Thomas) Lodge, John (Tricia) Temte, Brian (Dahliani) Temte, Lisa Canzanelli, Laura Paragona, and Linda Canzanelli; grandchildren, Allison, Jonathan, Lauren, Kellie, Melissa, Gwennie, Ellie, Jimmy, Sharon, Nicholas, Joseph, and Jack; and great-grandchildren, Jillian, Lavinia, Marigold, and Sawyer. She is also survived by brothers, Donald (Shirley) Kortkamp and Robert (Jeri) Kortkamp. She was predeceased by her sister-in-law Sandra Canzanelli.
A Memorial reception will be held on September 9, 2021 from 4:00 - 5:30 pm at the Commander's Mansion, 440 Talcott Avenue, Watertown, MA.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests you consider donating to one of the following organizations that Linda held dear: Mt. Auburn Hospital https://www.mountauburnhospital.org/giving/make-a-gift-today/donate-now/ Spring Island Trust, 174 Callawassie Drive, Okatie, SC 29909, or Naples Public Library, PO Box 1717, Naples, ME 04055. Online condolences may be shared with her family at Chandler Funeral Home, www.chandlerfunerals.com
She was born October 25, 1939 in Wisconsin Rapids, WI, the daughter of the late Howard and Verna (Denniston) Kortkamp.
She married Dr. Carl J. Canzanelli July 30, 1983. They spent many fulfilling years together, building three homes and traveling around the world, and later shared their retirement living on Spring Island, SC, and summering in Naples, ME.
Linda obtained her undergraduate degree in 1961 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After a ten year break to raise her children, she resumed her education at Tufts University School of Medicine, receiving her Doctorate of Medicine in 1974. She later returned to the University of Wisconsin to earn a Master's Degree in Hospital Administration. She spent her entire career at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, serving numerous roles including Physician in Internal Medicine and President of the Medical Staff. She retired in 2004 as Assistant Chair, Department of Medicine and Medical Director of Quality Improvement. Over the years, she was recognized for providing exceptional patient care and will be remembered by her colleagues and patients as a skilled, compassionate doctor, as well as an excellent administrator.
While very proud of her professional accomplishments, Linda took great joy in spending time with her family, traveling, gardening, crafting, and reading. She volunteered for many years with the Native Plant Project of the Spring Island Trust and at the Naples Public Library.
She is survived by her beloved husband Dr. Carl J. Canzanelli; children, Terri (Thomas) Lodge, John (Tricia) Temte, Brian (Dahliani) Temte, Lisa Canzanelli, Laura Paragona, and Linda Canzanelli; grandchildren, Allison, Jonathan, Lauren, Kellie, Melissa, Gwennie, Ellie, Jimmy, Sharon, Nicholas, Joseph, and Jack; and great-grandchildren, Jillian, Lavinia, Marigold, and Sawyer. She is also survived by brothers, Donald (Shirley) Kortkamp and Robert (Jeri) Kortkamp. She was predeceased by her sister-in-law Sandra Canzanelli.
A Memorial reception will be held on September 9, 2021 from 4:00 - 5:30 pm at the Commander's Mansion, 440 Talcott Avenue, Watertown, MA.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests you consider donating to one of the following organizations that Linda held dear: Mt. Auburn Hospital https://www.mountauburnhospital.org/giving/make-a-gift-today/donate-now/ Spring Island Trust, 174 Callawassie Drive, Okatie, SC 29909, or Naples Public Library, PO Box 1717, Naples, ME 04055. Online condolences may be shared with her family at Chandler Funeral Home, www.chandlerfunerals.com
ISAAC MEHREZ, MD
2020
I am sad to report to everyone that Dr. Isaac Mehrez passed away.
Dr. Mehrez joined the Mount Auburn Hospital staff in 1963 and has been an active member of the Emeritus staff since 2005. He was a skilled vascular surgeon and helped expand the Department of Surgery as Chair. He inspired a generation of surgical residents and helped establish a Vascular Surgical Fellowship in conjunction with the Harvard Surgical Service at New England Deaconess Hospital. Our thoughts are with his wife, Dr. Mary Mehrez, and their family at this time. Dr. Mehrez was
94 years old.
Dr. Mehrez joined the Mount Auburn Hospital staff in 1963 and has been an active member of the Emeritus staff since 2005. He was a skilled vascular surgeon and helped expand the Department of Surgery as Chair. He inspired a generation of surgical residents and helped establish a Vascular Surgical Fellowship in conjunction with the Harvard Surgical Service at New England Deaconess Hospital. Our thoughts are with his wife, Dr. Mary Mehrez, and their family at this time. Dr. Mehrez was
94 years old.
DAVID DESIMONE, MD
2020
It is with great sadness that we share the news that Dr. David DeSimone passed away on Saturday, June 13th.
Dr. DeSimone was a valued colleague and a highly respected member of the Mount Auburn Hospital medical staff for over twenty years. Dr. DeSimone provided comprehensive care to Arlington-area residents since 1981 from his single-provider practice on Massachusetts Avenue. Trained in both Internal Medicine and Cardiology, he completed medical school and residency at New Jersey Medical School-UMDNJ, followed by a Cardiovascular Medicine fellowship here at Mount Auburn. A true “comprehensivist” Dr. DeSimone will be remembered as a physician who always put his patients first, and was tireless in caring for them inside and outside of the hospital.
His passing represents a profound loss for all of those fortunate to count themselves as David’s patients, colleagues and friends. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family
Dr. DeSimone was a valued colleague and a highly respected member of the Mount Auburn Hospital medical staff for over twenty years. Dr. DeSimone provided comprehensive care to Arlington-area residents since 1981 from his single-provider practice on Massachusetts Avenue. Trained in both Internal Medicine and Cardiology, he completed medical school and residency at New Jersey Medical School-UMDNJ, followed by a Cardiovascular Medicine fellowship here at Mount Auburn. A true “comprehensivist” Dr. DeSimone will be remembered as a physician who always put his patients first, and was tireless in caring for them inside and outside of the hospital.
His passing represents a profound loss for all of those fortunate to count themselves as David’s patients, colleagues and friends. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family
RUSSELL NAUTA, MD
2020
I am so very sorry to sadly report to everyone that Dr. Russell J. Nauta died in a car accident after suffering an unknown event while driving. He was alone at the time of the accident and no one else was hurt.
Russ retired last December after serving for 22 years as the Chairman of Surgery at Mount Auburn Hospital and Vice Chairman of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. A clinician, teacher and researcher Russ was a giant among surgeons and a well-respected, beloved critical care surgeon. A graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut he received his MD degree at Georgetown University. His numerous papers and scholarly academic work were recognized by surgeons throughout the country. Under Russ’s leadership the Department of Surgery grew to include numerous new programs and services along with the recruitment of a department of talented and dedicated colleagues.
Russ leaves his wife, Claire, and his children Russell J. Nauta, III and Allison Nauta, MD. He leaves many loving family members and friends including 3 grandchildren.
Russ retired last December after serving for 22 years as the Chairman of Surgery at Mount Auburn Hospital and Vice Chairman of Surgery at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. A clinician, teacher and researcher Russ was a giant among surgeons and a well-respected, beloved critical care surgeon. A graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut he received his MD degree at Georgetown University. His numerous papers and scholarly academic work were recognized by surgeons throughout the country. Under Russ’s leadership the Department of Surgery grew to include numerous new programs and services along with the recruitment of a department of talented and dedicated colleagues.
Russ leaves his wife, Claire, and his children Russell J. Nauta, III and Allison Nauta, MD. He leaves many loving family members and friends including 3 grandchildren.
ALAN M. BARRON, MD
2020
BARRON, Dr. Alan M. Age 72, of Newton, on Saturday, May 23, 2020. Born and raised in Chelsea. Beloved husband of Dr. Rosaline (Zam) Barron for 37 years. Devoted son of the late Clara (Epstein) and Harold "Haley" Barron. Loving father of Dr. Rebecca Barron and her husband Dr. Tovy Kamine, Shelley Barron and her husband Spencer Ackerman, and Joshua Barron. Adoring grandfather of Nathan, Jesse, Ari, and Caleb. Dear friend to many. Graduate of Bowdoin College and Tufts University School of Medicine. Compassionate physician at Mount Auburn Hospital, cherished by patients and colleagues alike, for over 40 years. Clinical Instructor at Harvard Medical School. Awarded Middlesex County Physician of the Year by the Massachusetts Medical Society. Acknowledged Outstanding Teacher and Assistant Clinical Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dedicated member, Ritual Chair, and former Vice President of Temple Emeth. Recipient of Keeper of the Flame award. Strong supporter of Israel and donor of 60 Impact Scholarships through Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. Avid lover of bicycling, beaches, and boat rides. Graveside services and Shiva are private.
GERALD (GERRY) KENNY, MD
2019
KENNY, Gerard F. Born on December 10, 1938 in Medford, MA, died on Thursday, August 15, 2019 after a short illness. He was a graduate of Holy Cross College in 1960 and Tufts Medical School in 1964. Veteran of the United States Navy, he proudly served his country from 1960 to 1968. For over 40 years, he had a distinguished career as a Radiologist, serving most of those years at Mt. Auburn Hospital. An avid golfer, he found a second home (and a few trophies) at Winchester Country Club. He is survived by his beloved wife of 39 years, Elizabeth (O'Connor) Kenny, and his six children: James and his wife Robin Kenny, Kate and her husband Joel Townsend, Meg Kenny and her husband Todd Ameden, Elizabeth Kenny and her husband George Conard, Jessica Kenny and her fianc? Evan Collins, and Ryan and his wife Kristen Kenny. He was a loving grandfather to eight adoring grandchildren: Greg, Meredith, Jackson, Isabel, Jillian, Nora, Will, and Aidan. Predeceased by his father James F. Kenny, his mother Madeline (Kennedy) Kenny, his brother James Kenny, and his sister Mary Kenny, Gerry is also survived by his sister Madelyn and her husband James Brown, as well as many cherished nieces and nephews. Visiting Hours will be held at Lane Funeral Home, 760 Main St., WINCHESTER, on Tuesday, August 20, from 4-8PM. Funeral Mass Wednesday 10AM at St. Joseph Church in Medford. Interment at Oak Grove Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund in his memory, www.ouimet.org.
CHRISTOS HASIOTIS, MD
2018
Beloved husband, father and surgeon, died at his home on Cape Cod on October 28th, surrounded by his wife Linda and their three daughters. Born in Boston in 1935, he was oldest son of Arthur C. and Sophia (Gouda) Hasiotis. Educated in the Boston Public Schools and raised in the Greek Orthodox Church, Chris' proudest early achievements included earning the rank of Eagle Scout and quarterbacking the Boston Latin School Varsity football team. A biology major and Adams house resident at Harvard College (1957), Chris was a member of the football and baseball teams and Army ROTC. After earning his medical degree at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, Chris completed his surgical residency at Boston City Hospital where he served as Chief Resident. Adored by his wife of 45 years, Linda (Christie) and daughters Alexis and husband Laurence Wintersteen of Brookline, Aliki and husband Ted Broderick of Winchester, Dina and husband Tim McEvoy of New Orleans. Chris was the proud and loving "Pop" to five grandchildren and three step-grandchildren. Second only to his family were the patients, students and colleagues he encountered during his many years in private practice. Chris served as Surgeon Emeritus at Mount Auburn Hospital, Chief of Surgery at Sancta Maria Hospital, Assistant Clinical Professor of Surgery at Tufts Medical School and Clinical Instructor at Harvard Medical School. Chris was a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and member of the Boston Surgical Society, American Medical Association and Massachusetts Medical Society, as well as past president of the New England Hellenic Medical Society and past President of the Order of Ahepa Chapter 24.
PAUL DRATCH, MD
2017
2017
A gifted and caring radiologist, Dr. Paul Dratch possessed such intuitive diagnostic skills that he could “almost see into the patient without X-rays,” recalled Dr. Stanley C. Foster, a longtime friend and former colleague at Mount Auburn Hospital.
Just as skilled at lightening the mood on any dark day, Dr. Dratch used his memorable sense of humor to enliven meetings that had stayed serious too long. “He’s honestly the funniest person I’ve ever come across,” said Dr. Philip A. Rogoff, a radiologist at Mount Auburn. “And he was remarkable in his intellect. He was literally a walking encyclopedia.”
Known for choosing thick biographies and history books as beach reading, Dr. Dratch drew from vast stores of knowledge as he made every conversation unforgettable.
“The mystery of Paul is, ‘How could one person embody so much zest for life, humor, knowledge, and compassion?’ He was an intellectual who could enlighten us about the mundane and the profound,” Foster said in his eulogy at a memorial service for Dr. Dratch earlier this week. “Yet, the next second he could illuminate the irony and contradictions of life with his facile wit. And it was all wrapped in a blanket of loving kindness.”
Dr. Dratch, who spent his career at Mount Auburn and had only retired in January, died Oct. 5 in his Lexington home of acute myeloid leukemia. He was 78.
“His legacy was not only his humor and the human side of who he was, it was also the education side that he imparted to his residents, and how they cherished him,” Rogoff said. “He was engaged in the process with an enthusiasm that was extremely unusual.”
Dr. Morris Dratch of Lexington, an older brother who is also a physician, said he was “a very, very good radiologist. My brother found a wonderful home in medicine at the Mount Auburn Hospital.”
He added that it was quickly apparent to all who met Paul that he “had this wonderful sense of humor that I felt was just innate. It just came so naturally to him.”
A gifted mimic even as a teenager, Dr. Dratch entertained high school friends with impromptu impressions of teachers who had just stepped out of a classroom. In later years, he simply drew inspiration from his surroundings. “He would take what was going on in the room and make that funny,” said his daughter, Rachel Dratch of New York, a comedian and actress who formerly was a “Saturday Night Live” cast member. Having Dr. Dratch as a father, she added, “was almost like growing up in an improv master’s class.”
With her father around, comedy “was just in the air. He was joyous about everything,” Rachel Dratch said.
Dr. Dratch’s son works in comedy, too. Daniel Dratch, who lives in Los Angeles, has written for the TV shows “Monk,” “The Cleveland Show,” and “Anger Management.”
“My brother and I, we didn’t grow up thinking, ‘We’re going to be in comedy. We’re the funny family,’ ” Rachel said, but with her father around, comedy “was just in the air. He was joyous about everything.”
The youngest of seven children, Paul Leon Dratch was born in Somerville and was an elementary school pupil when his family moved to Mattapan. His parents, both immigrants from what is now Ukraine, were Benjamin Dratch, who painted the interiors and exteriors of houses, and the former Clara Turok.
Dr. Dratch graduated in 1956 from Boston Latin School and in 1960 from Harvard College. He acted in college plays and subsequently in community theater for many years. One role at Harvard, as the bartender in Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh,” found its way into family lore because the character’s foul language drew the ire of Dr. Dratch’s father, when he attended a show.
“He was great,” Morris said of Dr. Dratch, laughing at the memory, but their father couldn’t get past the cursing, which he thought was “so unbecoming of someone from Harvard. My father was roaring angry.”
Dr. Dratch graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1964 and served for a few years in the Army Reserve Medical Corps before joining the staff of Mount Auburn Hospital in 1971, where he received multiple awards for teaching.
“Paul had a gift for medicine,” Foster said in his eulogy. “His encyclopedic memory was enhanced by an almost artful way of assessing patients, and a roiling curiosity.”
In 1964, Dr. Dratch married Elaine Soloway, whom he met on a blind date, and who later was director of the Share-a-Ride agency, which provided transportation to the elderly and those with disabilities.
During his medical training, Dr. Dratch’s studies didn’t end with his shift, and weren’t confined to his specialty. “He was a guy who, during residency, would stay up until 3 o’clock in the morning watching movies from the ’30s and ’40s,” his brother said, “and he would know the primary actors and secondary actors.”
A biography of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that stretched for nearly 800 pages might be ideal summer reading for Dr. Dratch, but “at the same time, he enjoyed a lot of pop culture, so it was fun to talk with him about what was on Turner Classic Movies or the latest Hollywood dish,” said Ronna Foster.
Dr. Dratch also played the euphonium — what he liked to call “the forgotten horn” — in the Lexington town band for 40 years, “but I know that career will probably go nowhere,” he noted drily in 1995 in an anniversary report for his Harvard class.
He would bring Passover Seders to a close by playing “God Bless America” on his euphonium, as a tribute to his immigrant father, who sang the song at Seders when Dr. Dratch was growing up.
“He had so many facets to his personality,” Stanley Foster said in an interview. “The most important was that he was a caring guy. He listened to you. He was a good friend.”
Dr. Dratch also “absolutely loved being a grandfather” to his grandson, Eli Dratch Wahl, Rachel said in her eulogy. “He would be on the floor playing trucks for hours.”
A service has been held for Dr. Dratch, who in addition to his wife, children, grandson, and brother leaves a sister, Mary Rosenfield of Dedham, and a brother, Nathan of Boynton Beach, Fla.
During his years at Mount Auburn Hospital, Dr. Dratch “had the ability to take a room full of people talking about something serious and turn it into a comedy show in two seconds,” Rogoff said.
That was true of his friendships, too. In his eulogy, Foster likened their longtime bond as physicians and friends to examining “the facets of a diamond, constantly turning it, and seeing the reflections and distortions, and trying to differentiate what is real from the imagined. Paul, with his wit and his ability to imitate as well as mime, could turn this into an unending stream of life skits in real time. No one could do it better.”
Just as skilled at lightening the mood on any dark day, Dr. Dratch used his memorable sense of humor to enliven meetings that had stayed serious too long. “He’s honestly the funniest person I’ve ever come across,” said Dr. Philip A. Rogoff, a radiologist at Mount Auburn. “And he was remarkable in his intellect. He was literally a walking encyclopedia.”
Known for choosing thick biographies and history books as beach reading, Dr. Dratch drew from vast stores of knowledge as he made every conversation unforgettable.
“The mystery of Paul is, ‘How could one person embody so much zest for life, humor, knowledge, and compassion?’ He was an intellectual who could enlighten us about the mundane and the profound,” Foster said in his eulogy at a memorial service for Dr. Dratch earlier this week. “Yet, the next second he could illuminate the irony and contradictions of life with his facile wit. And it was all wrapped in a blanket of loving kindness.”
Dr. Dratch, who spent his career at Mount Auburn and had only retired in January, died Oct. 5 in his Lexington home of acute myeloid leukemia. He was 78.
“His legacy was not only his humor and the human side of who he was, it was also the education side that he imparted to his residents, and how they cherished him,” Rogoff said. “He was engaged in the process with an enthusiasm that was extremely unusual.”
Dr. Morris Dratch of Lexington, an older brother who is also a physician, said he was “a very, very good radiologist. My brother found a wonderful home in medicine at the Mount Auburn Hospital.”
He added that it was quickly apparent to all who met Paul that he “had this wonderful sense of humor that I felt was just innate. It just came so naturally to him.”
A gifted mimic even as a teenager, Dr. Dratch entertained high school friends with impromptu impressions of teachers who had just stepped out of a classroom. In later years, he simply drew inspiration from his surroundings. “He would take what was going on in the room and make that funny,” said his daughter, Rachel Dratch of New York, a comedian and actress who formerly was a “Saturday Night Live” cast member. Having Dr. Dratch as a father, she added, “was almost like growing up in an improv master’s class.”
With her father around, comedy “was just in the air. He was joyous about everything,” Rachel Dratch said.
Dr. Dratch’s son works in comedy, too. Daniel Dratch, who lives in Los Angeles, has written for the TV shows “Monk,” “The Cleveland Show,” and “Anger Management.”
“My brother and I, we didn’t grow up thinking, ‘We’re going to be in comedy. We’re the funny family,’ ” Rachel said, but with her father around, comedy “was just in the air. He was joyous about everything.”
The youngest of seven children, Paul Leon Dratch was born in Somerville and was an elementary school pupil when his family moved to Mattapan. His parents, both immigrants from what is now Ukraine, were Benjamin Dratch, who painted the interiors and exteriors of houses, and the former Clara Turok.
Dr. Dratch graduated in 1956 from Boston Latin School and in 1960 from Harvard College. He acted in college plays and subsequently in community theater for many years. One role at Harvard, as the bartender in Eugene O’Neill’s “The Iceman Cometh,” found its way into family lore because the character’s foul language drew the ire of Dr. Dratch’s father, when he attended a show.
“He was great,” Morris said of Dr. Dratch, laughing at the memory, but their father couldn’t get past the cursing, which he thought was “so unbecoming of someone from Harvard. My father was roaring angry.”
Dr. Dratch graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1964 and served for a few years in the Army Reserve Medical Corps before joining the staff of Mount Auburn Hospital in 1971, where he received multiple awards for teaching.
“Paul had a gift for medicine,” Foster said in his eulogy. “His encyclopedic memory was enhanced by an almost artful way of assessing patients, and a roiling curiosity.”
In 1964, Dr. Dratch married Elaine Soloway, whom he met on a blind date, and who later was director of the Share-a-Ride agency, which provided transportation to the elderly and those with disabilities.
During his medical training, Dr. Dratch’s studies didn’t end with his shift, and weren’t confined to his specialty. “He was a guy who, during residency, would stay up until 3 o’clock in the morning watching movies from the ’30s and ’40s,” his brother said, “and he would know the primary actors and secondary actors.”
A biography of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that stretched for nearly 800 pages might be ideal summer reading for Dr. Dratch, but “at the same time, he enjoyed a lot of pop culture, so it was fun to talk with him about what was on Turner Classic Movies or the latest Hollywood dish,” said Ronna Foster.
Dr. Dratch also played the euphonium — what he liked to call “the forgotten horn” — in the Lexington town band for 40 years, “but I know that career will probably go nowhere,” he noted drily in 1995 in an anniversary report for his Harvard class.
He would bring Passover Seders to a close by playing “God Bless America” on his euphonium, as a tribute to his immigrant father, who sang the song at Seders when Dr. Dratch was growing up.
“He had so many facets to his personality,” Stanley Foster said in an interview. “The most important was that he was a caring guy. He listened to you. He was a good friend.”
Dr. Dratch also “absolutely loved being a grandfather” to his grandson, Eli Dratch Wahl, Rachel said in her eulogy. “He would be on the floor playing trucks for hours.”
A service has been held for Dr. Dratch, who in addition to his wife, children, grandson, and brother leaves a sister, Mary Rosenfield of Dedham, and a brother, Nathan of Boynton Beach, Fla.
During his years at Mount Auburn Hospital, Dr. Dratch “had the ability to take a room full of people talking about something serious and turn it into a comedy show in two seconds,” Rogoff said.
That was true of his friendships, too. In his eulogy, Foster likened their longtime bond as physicians and friends to examining “the facets of a diamond, constantly turning it, and seeing the reflections and distortions, and trying to differentiate what is real from the imagined. Paul, with his wit and his ability to imitate as well as mime, could turn this into an unending stream of life skits in real time. No one could do it better.”
STEPHEN A. YOUNGWIRTH, MD
2017
Stephen Alan Youngwirth, Age 69 of Boston, MA, passed away after a short battle with cancer on Jan. 21, 2017.
Stephen was born in Atlanta, GA on August 3, 1947 to Sol and Grace Youngwirth. He received a Doctorate in Medicine (M.D.) and Bachelor of Science (B.S.) after completing dual enrollment at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Albany Medical College of Union University.
Following graduation, he became a major in US Air Force serving as flight surgeon.
It was love at first sight when he met another officer, Joni Yttreness. As luck would have it, she didn't need to change her monogram after their April 1975 wedding. Following military discharge, he completed a residency in Ophthalmology at Boston University followed by a Retina fellowship at Mass Eye and Ear. He conscientiously cared for patients in his private practice for over 30 years and, more recently, at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston.
He was a passionate pilot for over 5 decades. He flew out of Hansom Air Force base since the 1970's. Stephen and Joni's most recent flight was piloting to Virginia in August 2016 to visit their oldest Air Force friends.
Stephen and Joni made their home in Lexington, Massachusetts for over 30 years. He considered his daughter Nicole of Cambridge, Massachusetts and son, David, of San Diego, California, the greatest blessings of a long and happy marriage.
In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by his parents and brothers, Lewis (Mary) and Glenn (Dina). He has many nieces and nephews who will cherish his memory. His family, patients and friends will remember him as a kind, conscientious, modest man with a quiet sense of humor. Truly, a mensch.
Stephen was born in Atlanta, GA on August 3, 1947 to Sol and Grace Youngwirth. He received a Doctorate in Medicine (M.D.) and Bachelor of Science (B.S.) after completing dual enrollment at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Albany Medical College of Union University.
Following graduation, he became a major in US Air Force serving as flight surgeon.
It was love at first sight when he met another officer, Joni Yttreness. As luck would have it, she didn't need to change her monogram after their April 1975 wedding. Following military discharge, he completed a residency in Ophthalmology at Boston University followed by a Retina fellowship at Mass Eye and Ear. He conscientiously cared for patients in his private practice for over 30 years and, more recently, at Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston.
He was a passionate pilot for over 5 decades. He flew out of Hansom Air Force base since the 1970's. Stephen and Joni's most recent flight was piloting to Virginia in August 2016 to visit their oldest Air Force friends.
Stephen and Joni made their home in Lexington, Massachusetts for over 30 years. He considered his daughter Nicole of Cambridge, Massachusetts and son, David, of San Diego, California, the greatest blessings of a long and happy marriage.
In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by his parents and brothers, Lewis (Mary) and Glenn (Dina). He has many nieces and nephews who will cherish his memory. His family, patients and friends will remember him as a kind, conscientious, modest man with a quiet sense of humor. Truly, a mensch.
MICHAEL T. FOLEY, MD
Dr. Foley was the past president of Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital Medical Staff, long standing Trustee of UMass System, and Boston Red Sox Baseball Club Internal Medicine Consultant and Physician in attendance, Fenway Park.
As physician-in-attendance at Fenway Park for almost 25 years, Dr. Michael T. Foley was town doctor for the community of Red Sox fans who gather for home games.
“With close to 35,000 people here whenever the Red Sox are in town, this place becomes a small city, so you can count on a range of medical emergencies,” Dr. Foley told the Globe in 1995. “Mostly what we see are heat-related problems, bruises caused when fans stampede for a loose ball, and indigestion, but we do get our share of more serious illnesses like cardiac arrest and diabetic comas.”
So omnipresent was Dr. Foley at Fenway that a longtime colleague once said he was the de facto mayor of that city of fans who fill the seats. Starting out in 1979, Dr. Foley attended to spectators and sports stars alike during games, and with his small staff sometimes treated as many as 100 patients per game.
“He would develop friendships with the players,” said his wife, Anne. “They would always have questions with this and that, and if they had problems outside of the clubhouse, he would help them or refer them to a doctor.”
Dr. Foley, who for more than 30 years was a physician at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, the hospital where he was born, died of cardiac arrest Dec. 11 in Lahey Clinic in Burlington. He was 63 and lived in Arlington.
“He knew everybody at St. Elizabeth’s over the years, and he loved working there,” his wife said. “Even the cafeteria workers came to his wake.”
Serving in a number of roles at St. Elizabeth’s, Dr. Foley was appointed chief medical resident in 1978. He was a clinical fellow in gastroenterology there while serving as a research fellow at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Boston, and later became president of the medical staff at St. Elizabeth’s.
Working long hours at St. Elizabeth’s, Dr. Foley was so thorough with each case, taking meticulous notes, that he occasionally was tardy while moving from patient to patient.
“He was sometimes late, and my theory is he would be walking along the halls and he would always stop to talk to people,” his wife said.
Along with his private practice in Arlington, Dr. Foley formerly led the medical staffs at Symmes Hospital in Arlington and the Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea. He also had been chief of the medical staff and program director for gastroenterology at Kindred Hospital Boston in Brighton.
Dr. Foley, who loved teaching medical students, had been a clinical instructor and later an assistant professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.
Dr. Angel Gonzalez considered Dr. Foley a mentor and said he “would teach these wonderful classes and always offered helpful notes. He would mix classes up with anecdotes and jokes. We would learn and laugh a lot with him.”
A son of John Foley and the former Rita Flanagan, Dr. Foley grew up in Arlington, where his father was a marketing representative for Chevron Oil and his mother was a church organist and schoolteacher. Family lore has it that Michael Foley was 4 when he decided to become a physician.
He graduated from Arlington Catholic High School and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He then went to UMass Medical School in Worcester, graduating in 1976.
The summer after his first year at medical school, Dr. Foley took a biochemistry course at Tulane University in New Orleans and met Anne Higgins, who was working at his dorm’s front desk.
They were friends at first, until Dr. Foley asked her out on his last night in New Orleans. They dined on gumbo and promised to stay in touch through letters.
After three years of a long-distance romance, she finished law school at Tulane and moved north to be with Dr. Foley. They married in 1977.
Living in Arlington, Dr. Foley often encouraged high school students who wanted to become doctors.
“The word got out in Arlington that if you wanted to go to UMass Medical School, you should talk to Mike,” his wife said. “He would have kids over every couple of weeks.”
For 15 years Dr. Foley served as a trustee in the University of Massachusetts system, and in 2009 he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service Award from the UMass Amherst Alumni Association. He was a founding member of the University of Massachusetts Club in Boston.
Dr. Foley was involved in organizations such as the New England chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, which honored his contributions in 1998. He also worked with the American Liver Foundation, which gave him an award for excellence in 1994. He was a member of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the American Gastroenterology Association, and was a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology.
Gonzalez said he worked with Dr. Foley the Friday before he died, and that his mentor was “right on his game,” seeing several patients and still cracking jokes.
“He never stopped working,” said Bob Buckley, one of Dr. Foley’s childhood friends. “I would say to him ‘When are you going to retire?’ And he said he never planned on retiring because there was always going to be someone out there to take care of.”
A service has been held for Dr. Foley, who in addition to his wife leaves two sons, Michael of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Patrick of Boston; a daughter, Elizabeth of Arlington; a brother, John of Virginia; and three sisters, Judith McManamon of Falmouth, Maryalice of Arlington, and Paula J. Leibovitz of Winthrop.
Dr. Foley had served as a trustee of Por-Cristo, a Brighton-based charitable medical group that works with at-risk women and children in Latin America, and taken part in fact-finding missions to Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.
He might have been happiest, though, traveling through Fenway Park. “Working as the fan’s physician is the dream mix between my interest in sports and medicine,” he said.
Depending on the day, Dr. Foley might diagnose patients with anything from a heart attack to heartburn.
“The trouble is some fans are so fanatic they won’t let a little thing like a heart condition keep them from their game,” Dr. Foley said. “We’ve had more than one person refuse our advice and go back to their seats.”
As physician-in-attendance at Fenway Park for almost 25 years, Dr. Michael T. Foley was town doctor for the community of Red Sox fans who gather for home games.
“With close to 35,000 people here whenever the Red Sox are in town, this place becomes a small city, so you can count on a range of medical emergencies,” Dr. Foley told the Globe in 1995. “Mostly what we see are heat-related problems, bruises caused when fans stampede for a loose ball, and indigestion, but we do get our share of more serious illnesses like cardiac arrest and diabetic comas.”
So omnipresent was Dr. Foley at Fenway that a longtime colleague once said he was the de facto mayor of that city of fans who fill the seats. Starting out in 1979, Dr. Foley attended to spectators and sports stars alike during games, and with his small staff sometimes treated as many as 100 patients per game.
“He would develop friendships with the players,” said his wife, Anne. “They would always have questions with this and that, and if they had problems outside of the clubhouse, he would help them or refer them to a doctor.”
Dr. Foley, who for more than 30 years was a physician at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Brighton, the hospital where he was born, died of cardiac arrest Dec. 11 in Lahey Clinic in Burlington. He was 63 and lived in Arlington.
“He knew everybody at St. Elizabeth’s over the years, and he loved working there,” his wife said. “Even the cafeteria workers came to his wake.”
Serving in a number of roles at St. Elizabeth’s, Dr. Foley was appointed chief medical resident in 1978. He was a clinical fellow in gastroenterology there while serving as a research fellow at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Boston, and later became president of the medical staff at St. Elizabeth’s.
Working long hours at St. Elizabeth’s, Dr. Foley was so thorough with each case, taking meticulous notes, that he occasionally was tardy while moving from patient to patient.
“He was sometimes late, and my theory is he would be walking along the halls and he would always stop to talk to people,” his wife said.
Along with his private practice in Arlington, Dr. Foley formerly led the medical staffs at Symmes Hospital in Arlington and the Soldiers’ Home in Chelsea. He also had been chief of the medical staff and program director for gastroenterology at Kindred Hospital Boston in Brighton.
Dr. Foley, who loved teaching medical students, had been a clinical instructor and later an assistant professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine.
Dr. Angel Gonzalez considered Dr. Foley a mentor and said he “would teach these wonderful classes and always offered helpful notes. He would mix classes up with anecdotes and jokes. We would learn and laugh a lot with him.”
A son of John Foley and the former Rita Flanagan, Dr. Foley grew up in Arlington, where his father was a marketing representative for Chevron Oil and his mother was a church organist and schoolteacher. Family lore has it that Michael Foley was 4 when he decided to become a physician.
He graduated from Arlington Catholic High School and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He then went to UMass Medical School in Worcester, graduating in 1976.
The summer after his first year at medical school, Dr. Foley took a biochemistry course at Tulane University in New Orleans and met Anne Higgins, who was working at his dorm’s front desk.
They were friends at first, until Dr. Foley asked her out on his last night in New Orleans. They dined on gumbo and promised to stay in touch through letters.
After three years of a long-distance romance, she finished law school at Tulane and moved north to be with Dr. Foley. They married in 1977.
Living in Arlington, Dr. Foley often encouraged high school students who wanted to become doctors.
“The word got out in Arlington that if you wanted to go to UMass Medical School, you should talk to Mike,” his wife said. “He would have kids over every couple of weeks.”
For 15 years Dr. Foley served as a trustee in the University of Massachusetts system, and in 2009 he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service Award from the UMass Amherst Alumni Association. He was a founding member of the University of Massachusetts Club in Boston.
Dr. Foley was involved in organizations such as the New England chapter of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America, which honored his contributions in 1998. He also worked with the American Liver Foundation, which gave him an award for excellence in 1994. He was a member of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the American Gastroenterology Association, and was a fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology.
Gonzalez said he worked with Dr. Foley the Friday before he died, and that his mentor was “right on his game,” seeing several patients and still cracking jokes.
“He never stopped working,” said Bob Buckley, one of Dr. Foley’s childhood friends. “I would say to him ‘When are you going to retire?’ And he said he never planned on retiring because there was always going to be someone out there to take care of.”
A service has been held for Dr. Foley, who in addition to his wife leaves two sons, Michael of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Patrick of Boston; a daughter, Elizabeth of Arlington; a brother, John of Virginia; and three sisters, Judith McManamon of Falmouth, Maryalice of Arlington, and Paula J. Leibovitz of Winthrop.
Dr. Foley had served as a trustee of Por-Cristo, a Brighton-based charitable medical group that works with at-risk women and children in Latin America, and taken part in fact-finding missions to Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.
He might have been happiest, though, traveling through Fenway Park. “Working as the fan’s physician is the dream mix between my interest in sports and medicine,” he said.
Depending on the day, Dr. Foley might diagnose patients with anything from a heart attack to heartburn.
“The trouble is some fans are so fanatic they won’t let a little thing like a heart condition keep them from their game,” Dr. Foley said. “We’ve had more than one person refuse our advice and go back to their seats.”
VARANT HAGOPIAN, MD
2013
2013
KARL SORGER, MD
2012
It is with great sadness that we share with you the passing of Dr. Karl Sorger in his 83rd year. Dr. Sorger joined the Mount Auburn Hospital Medical Staff in September of 1962 as a staff Pathologist. He was born in Graz, Austria in 1929, and earned his Medical Degree in 1954 at the University of Graz Medical School. While a Resident at the University of
Glasgow in Scotland, he met his wife Elizabeth. In 1957, Dr. Sorger relocated to Canada and worked as an Assistant Professor of Pathology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
At the invitation of Dr. H. Edward MacMahon in 1962, Dr. Sorger came to Mount Auburn Hospital. He served as Assistant Chief of Pathology from 1963 until he was appointed Chairman of Pathology at Mount Auburn Hospital in 1978, and became a Clinical Professor of Pathology at Tufts University School of Medicine in 1980. He was Board Certified in
Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, and served as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and a Fellow of the College of American Pathologists. He was also appointed Lecturer in Pathology at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sorger served as President of the Mount Auburn Hospital Medical Staff in 1984 and subsequently served as a Trustee on the Mount Auburn Hospital and Foundation Boards.
Dr. Sorger is survived by his wife, two sons, Peter and Martin and four grandsons.
ROGER F. LANGE, MD
2012
Rather than seek acclaim within his specialty, Dr. Roger Lange focused on treating one cancer patient at a time. Then, at the end of the day, he went home and spent time with his family.
“The work that he did was untainted by external rewards,’’ said Dr. Glenn Bubley, who started working with Dr. Lange in the early 1980s. “He was well known amongst the cancer community but not among hoity-toity specialists worldwide.’’
In the community of the seriously ill, Dr. Lange sported a Groucho Marx mustache that made him instantly recognizable, and he offered unhurried compassion each time he spoke with a patient.
“He never rushed you,’’ said Julie Korostoff, an attorney who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and was his patient until his death. “He really talked to you and listened to you and didn’t talk over you. He addressed every question with a mix of honesty and seriousness.’’
Dr. Lange, who had been chief of the division of hematology-oncology at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge and also was on the staff of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, died Jan. 19 in Beth Israel of complications of multiple myeloma. He was 68 and lived in Brookline.
Bubley said it wasn’t that Dr. Lange had more time than other doctors to spend on his patients. He just made sure to answer all their questions thoroughly and let the conversation unfold without patients feeling rushed.
“He would calm them down, get them to have a realistic, but more positive view of their illness,’’ he said.
Korostoff said that when she was first diagnosed, she was given plenty of advice on what to eat or drink. When a colleague told her green tea would help, she asked Dr. Lange.
“He said the only thing that green tea will do is make your pee green,’’ she said. “It’s a typical kind of comment: Frank, but funny and honest.’’
Dr. Lange, who also taught at Harvard Medical School, loved to make jokes, Bubley said, but they were almost always at his own expense.
“He came from nothing,’’ said Bubley, who added that no question would prompt Dr. Lange to pass judgment on his patients.
“It was well known in our medical center that he had this capacity, this incredible patient-centered approach to medicine,’’ he said.
Born and raised in Chicago, Roger Frederick Lange went to South Shore High School, where he played baseball and basketball.
He met Lois Platt when she sat behind him in a seventh-grade classroom. In eighth grade, they worked together on the student council, and remained close friends until their senior year, when he asked her to the prom. She had turned down another offer, hoping he would ask her.
“I think his friends said ‘What are you waiting for?’ ’’ she recalled, laughing.
In 1961, when they graduated from high school, Dr. Lange went to Harvard College and she went to Brown University in Providence. They wrote letters two or three times a week and visited frequently.
“By senior year I think we were committed to being together,’’ she said. “We were just good friends, and that carried us along until we were old enough to start thinking about getting married.’’
When they both graduated, she went to Columbia University in New York City for a graduate degree in social work, and he attended Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1969.
In 1967, after she finished graduate school, they married and lived in Boston while he finished medical school and a residency.
They moved to Maryland for two years while he worked at the National Institutes of Health, then lived in St. Louis for a year before returning to Boston.
Dr. Lange began growing his thick mustache around the time their son, David, was born. Soon after, their daughter, Nancy, was born.
“Once he grew the mustache we were a family,’’ she said. “I don’t even think of him without it.’’
David said that for his wedding, the family stocked plenty of Groucho Marx masks, and guests who donned them wanted to pose for photos with Dr. Lange.
Throughout his life, Dr. Lange made exercising a priority. During summers, he and his wife rode bikes and in the winters they went cross-country skiing.
“He was always one to say, ‘Just a few more miles,’ ’’ she said.
When their children were in high school, the family, along with her sister, went to France and biked throughout the country.
“One time in France we were lost in fields of sunflowers, and we had to get to the place we were staying before they stopped serving dinner,’’ his wife said. “I just followed him, and we pulled into the place about 10 minutes before the dining hall closed.’’
Dr. Lange and his wife also played tennis, and he coached his son’s Little League baseball team in Brookline.
For Thanksgiving each year, Dr. Lange made a barbeque turkey on the grill on the back deck of the Brookline house where his children grew up and where he and his wife were living when he died.
“It could be snowing, but we’d go out there and have a drink and bring in the turkey,’’ Bubley said.
“He was such a family man,’’ Bubley said, adding that Dr. Lange “never missed the kids’ soccer and basketball games. He was there for them and his wife through all their pursuits. When I had my children, who are about a decade younger, I tried to emulate that style.’’
Throughout Dr. Lange’s career, his wife said, grateful patients sent him gifts by way of saying thanks.
About 10 years ago, the Langes awakened to find their driveway clear of snow that fell the night before. A few snowsotrms passed before they realized the driveway was cleared by a patient who knew where they lived and wanted to repay Dr. Lange for his help.
During the holidays, Dr. Lange’s daughter said, he always received “more gifts than he could handle.’’
A service has been held for Dr. Lange, who in addition to his wife, Lois, his son, David, of New York City, and his daughter, Nancy, of Jamaica Plain, leaves his brother, Paul of Rehoboth Beach, Del.; and two granddaughters.
As Dr. Lange’s health declined, his wife was overwhelmed by the response from the cancer community.
“One man said that he saw cancer as an excuse to go see Dr. Lange,’’ she said, recalling the response of her husband’s patients. “They consider him a close personal friend. With my own loss, my heart goes out to them, too.’’
Boston Globe : February 12, 2012
“The work that he did was untainted by external rewards,’’ said Dr. Glenn Bubley, who started working with Dr. Lange in the early 1980s. “He was well known amongst the cancer community but not among hoity-toity specialists worldwide.’’
In the community of the seriously ill, Dr. Lange sported a Groucho Marx mustache that made him instantly recognizable, and he offered unhurried compassion each time he spoke with a patient.
“He never rushed you,’’ said Julie Korostoff, an attorney who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001 and was his patient until his death. “He really talked to you and listened to you and didn’t talk over you. He addressed every question with a mix of honesty and seriousness.’’
Dr. Lange, who had been chief of the division of hematology-oncology at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge and also was on the staff of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, died Jan. 19 in Beth Israel of complications of multiple myeloma. He was 68 and lived in Brookline.
Bubley said it wasn’t that Dr. Lange had more time than other doctors to spend on his patients. He just made sure to answer all their questions thoroughly and let the conversation unfold without patients feeling rushed.
“He would calm them down, get them to have a realistic, but more positive view of their illness,’’ he said.
Korostoff said that when she was first diagnosed, she was given plenty of advice on what to eat or drink. When a colleague told her green tea would help, she asked Dr. Lange.
“He said the only thing that green tea will do is make your pee green,’’ she said. “It’s a typical kind of comment: Frank, but funny and honest.’’
Dr. Lange, who also taught at Harvard Medical School, loved to make jokes, Bubley said, but they were almost always at his own expense.
“He came from nothing,’’ said Bubley, who added that no question would prompt Dr. Lange to pass judgment on his patients.
“It was well known in our medical center that he had this capacity, this incredible patient-centered approach to medicine,’’ he said.
Born and raised in Chicago, Roger Frederick Lange went to South Shore High School, where he played baseball and basketball.
He met Lois Platt when she sat behind him in a seventh-grade classroom. In eighth grade, they worked together on the student council, and remained close friends until their senior year, when he asked her to the prom. She had turned down another offer, hoping he would ask her.
“I think his friends said ‘What are you waiting for?’ ’’ she recalled, laughing.
In 1961, when they graduated from high school, Dr. Lange went to Harvard College and she went to Brown University in Providence. They wrote letters two or three times a week and visited frequently.
“By senior year I think we were committed to being together,’’ she said. “We were just good friends, and that carried us along until we were old enough to start thinking about getting married.’’
When they both graduated, she went to Columbia University in New York City for a graduate degree in social work, and he attended Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1969.
In 1967, after she finished graduate school, they married and lived in Boston while he finished medical school and a residency.
They moved to Maryland for two years while he worked at the National Institutes of Health, then lived in St. Louis for a year before returning to Boston.
Dr. Lange began growing his thick mustache around the time their son, David, was born. Soon after, their daughter, Nancy, was born.
“Once he grew the mustache we were a family,’’ she said. “I don’t even think of him without it.’’
David said that for his wedding, the family stocked plenty of Groucho Marx masks, and guests who donned them wanted to pose for photos with Dr. Lange.
Throughout his life, Dr. Lange made exercising a priority. During summers, he and his wife rode bikes and in the winters they went cross-country skiing.
“He was always one to say, ‘Just a few more miles,’ ’’ she said.
When their children were in high school, the family, along with her sister, went to France and biked throughout the country.
“One time in France we were lost in fields of sunflowers, and we had to get to the place we were staying before they stopped serving dinner,’’ his wife said. “I just followed him, and we pulled into the place about 10 minutes before the dining hall closed.’’
Dr. Lange and his wife also played tennis, and he coached his son’s Little League baseball team in Brookline.
For Thanksgiving each year, Dr. Lange made a barbeque turkey on the grill on the back deck of the Brookline house where his children grew up and where he and his wife were living when he died.
“It could be snowing, but we’d go out there and have a drink and bring in the turkey,’’ Bubley said.
“He was such a family man,’’ Bubley said, adding that Dr. Lange “never missed the kids’ soccer and basketball games. He was there for them and his wife through all their pursuits. When I had my children, who are about a decade younger, I tried to emulate that style.’’
Throughout Dr. Lange’s career, his wife said, grateful patients sent him gifts by way of saying thanks.
About 10 years ago, the Langes awakened to find their driveway clear of snow that fell the night before. A few snowsotrms passed before they realized the driveway was cleared by a patient who knew where they lived and wanted to repay Dr. Lange for his help.
During the holidays, Dr. Lange’s daughter said, he always received “more gifts than he could handle.’’
A service has been held for Dr. Lange, who in addition to his wife, Lois, his son, David, of New York City, and his daughter, Nancy, of Jamaica Plain, leaves his brother, Paul of Rehoboth Beach, Del.; and two granddaughters.
As Dr. Lange’s health declined, his wife was overwhelmed by the response from the cancer community.
“One man said that he saw cancer as an excuse to go see Dr. Lange,’’ she said, recalling the response of her husband’s patients. “They consider him a close personal friend. With my own loss, my heart goes out to them, too.’’
Boston Globe : February 12, 2012
STEVE KARIAN, MD
2011
We are so very sorry to report that Dr. Steve Karian died May 11, 2011 at his home after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Steve was with his family at home and had just recently returned from a trip to his beloved Paris, France. Dr. Karian joined the Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, on October 26, 1979. He was on the active staff at Mount Auburn as well as Melrose Wakefield Hospital. For many years Dr. Karian and his partners maintained urology offices in Cambridge at Mount Auburn, and in Waltham, Somerville and Melrose. In addition to his excellent clinical skills as a urologic surgeon in the operating room and in the office, Dr. Karian consistently showed true warmth and compassion for his patients. He deeply appreciated the nursing staff and O.R. teams with whom he worked and admired and respected his fellow physicians both in his department and throughout Mount Auburn Hospital. His sense of humor and love of life will always be remembered.
Dr. Karian graduated from the University of Montpellier in Montpellier, France and did his internship at Boston City Hospital. He completed his surgical residency and his residency in urology at Boston University Medical Center. His many professional activities included service as President of the Deaconess Waltham Medical Staff and as a member of the Deaconess Waltham Board of Trustees. He was active for many years in the Armenian Medical Association and served a term as President of the Association.
More recently Dr. Karian and his family traveled frequently to Paris where they had purchased a vacation apartment. He spoke fluent French and visited France as often as possible. His love of art and all things French was second only to his love of family. Our sympathies go out to his wife Dr. Melody Craft Karian and his two children, Laurel and Peter. He was pre-deceased by his daughter, Lily.
2011
We are so very sorry to report that Dr. Steve Karian died May 11, 2011 at his home after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Steve was with his family at home and had just recently returned from a trip to his beloved Paris, France. Dr. Karian joined the Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, on October 26, 1979. He was on the active staff at Mount Auburn as well as Melrose Wakefield Hospital. For many years Dr. Karian and his partners maintained urology offices in Cambridge at Mount Auburn, and in Waltham, Somerville and Melrose. In addition to his excellent clinical skills as a urologic surgeon in the operating room and in the office, Dr. Karian consistently showed true warmth and compassion for his patients. He deeply appreciated the nursing staff and O.R. teams with whom he worked and admired and respected his fellow physicians both in his department and throughout Mount Auburn Hospital. His sense of humor and love of life will always be remembered.
Dr. Karian graduated from the University of Montpellier in Montpellier, France and did his internship at Boston City Hospital. He completed his surgical residency and his residency in urology at Boston University Medical Center. His many professional activities included service as President of the Deaconess Waltham Medical Staff and as a member of the Deaconess Waltham Board of Trustees. He was active for many years in the Armenian Medical Association and served a term as President of the Association.
More recently Dr. Karian and his family traveled frequently to Paris where they had purchased a vacation apartment. He spoke fluent French and visited France as often as possible. His love of art and all things French was second only to his love of family. Our sympathies go out to his wife Dr. Melody Craft Karian and his two children, Laurel and Peter. He was pre-deceased by his daughter, Lily.
MADELINE CRIVELLO, MD
2011
By Bryan Marquard : The Boston Globe : March 14, 2011
As it did with her mother, breast cancer entered Dr. Madeline Crivello’s life when she was young, just 40. Given a 5 percent chance of living five years, she decided she wanted to see her children grow up and endured an experimental treatment and a bone-marrow transplant before celebrating a disease-free fifth anniversary of her diagnosis.
“Many other women who’d been through this with me had not made it,’’ Dr. Crivello told the Globe in 2004, when radio station WMJX-FM in Boston honored her with an Exceptional Women award. “I asked myself, Why was I spared?’’
Cancer, it turned out, was malady and muse.
“The experience of being a patient was actually a great gift in disguise,’’ she wrote for the 25th anniversary report of her Harvard and Radcliffe class. “I treat my patients differently now. The illness also opened my mind to evaluating what is called ‘alternative treatment’; in the process, I have made many wonderful friends while pursuing nontraditional methods of healing.’’
Dr. Crivello, the first director of women’s imaging at the Hoffman Breast Center at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, died of a recurrence of cancer on Feb. 19 at Avow Hospice in Naples, Fla., near where she was staying with relatives to avoid the winter cold. She was 58 and lived in Newtonville.
“She had an internal spiritual strength that was tied up in her Catholicism and her personality, and they were intertwined,’’ said Dr. Michael J. Shortsleeve, who chairs the radiology department at Mount Auburn Hospital. “Madeline used this incredible inner strength to her advantage and to her patients’ advantage. When she would talk to you, you had a sense that she had this inner energy that was helping to heal her, and that she would transfer to other people to heal them.’’
Alice Hoffman, a novelist who lives in Cambridge, lent her name and financial support to the center at Mount Auburn Hospital after being treated there for breast cancer and encountering physicians such as Dr. Crivello.
“I was the first patient she came out to as a survivor,’’ Hoffman said. “In comforting me, she told me her own story. Then she began to do that with other people, and it was hugely comforting. She was a great caregiver as a doctor, but she was also a great caregiver as an incredibly passionate woman and a survivor.’’
Hoffman was among the writers who honored Dr. Crivello with a Rheta Foster Award in 2009 during an “Evening With Your Favorite Authors’’ gathering in Cambridge.
Hearing Dr. Crivello’s story “meant a great deal to me and to her, because she no longer had to keep those parts of her separate and could be a whole person with her patients, which was really rare in those relationships,’’ Hoffman said. “You felt cared for in a deep, almost spiritual way when she cared for you.’’
Healing was a calling Madeline Silvia Crivello first heard growing up in Milwaukee and suburban Glendale, Wis., when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at 35.
“When Mom was near death, Lena was 13,’’ said her brother Frank of Pompano Beach, Fla. “She knew at that moment that she had to be a doctor and had to serve other people.’’
Her parents were immigrants from Sicily and years later, to celebrate the fifth anniversary of her cancer diagnosis, she visited “a small fishing village where they were born and raised,’’ Dr. Crivello wrote in her 25th anniversary Harvard-Radcliffe report. “I was so touched to be able to stand in the small church where they had been baptized and look at the statues I had heard so much about.’’
She graduated in 1969 from Nicolet High School in Glendale, from Radcliffe four years later, and from the Yale School of Medicine in 1977. After further training, including as chief resident in radiology at Beth Israel Hospital, she began her career and soon joined the staff of Mount Auburn.
“Madeline was one of the most organized persons you can imagine,’’ said Dr. Rose Goldman, a physician at Cambridge Hospital who shared an apartment with Dr. Crivello at Yale. “Besides being very intelligent, she was very quick and could do many things quickly and efficiently. She just had tremendous focus to accomplish all the things she wanted to do. In between her courses, she managed to bake loaves of bread.’’
At Mount Auburn and elsewhere, Dr. Crivello was famous for her biscotti and Christmas cookies.
“Madeline was the kind of baker who would find the best of every ingredient,’’ said her friend Caren Cummings Adams, director of interactive communications at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “She would spend the weekend searching for the best hazelnuts, the best this, the best that. And then she would spend the entire next weekend baking. She never went anywhere empty-handed, and would never go to Dana-Farber without bringing cookies. The doctors would say ‘Thank you,’ and she would say, ‘This is so you will cure me.’ ’’
Dr. Crivello, whose marriage to Dr. Edward Nardell ended in divorce, lived more than 18 years beyond her diagnosis, long enough to see her daughter, Maria Nardell, begin studying medicine and son, Anthony Nardell, approach graduation from Marquette University in Milwaukee.
“She’s always been an inspiration to all of us, and particularly me as someone who followed in her footsteps,’’ said Maria, who, like her mother, went to Harvard and now is at Yale’s medical school.
“I didn’t always want it to seem like I was doing exactly what she was doing, but as I’ve gotten older, and especially now, I feel it’s the greatest honor to be considered like her.’’
Dr. Crivello, her daughter said, “was very intuitive with people, and as her daughter, we were incredibly close. She could read a blink.’’
In addition to her daughter, son, and brother, Dr. Crivello leaves another brother, Joseph of Storrs, Conn.
A memorial service is planned for 3 p.m. Friday in the auditorium of Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge.
“She drew people to her, at events or even small dinner parties,’’ her daughter said. “She had an interest in everybody, loved learning about people, and people loved her.’’
As Dr. Crivello opened herself to healing possibilities beyond the bounds of traditional medicine, “she felt there was more on this earth than we could see or touch,’’ Adams said. During a visit to Florida when Dr. Crivello was dying, “I said, ‘This is not goodbye; if anybody in this world can communicate with me from beyond, it’s you, so don’t say goodbye.’ And she said, ‘No, this is not goodbye.’ ’’
2011
By Bryan Marquard : The Boston Globe : March 14, 2011
As it did with her mother, breast cancer entered Dr. Madeline Crivello’s life when she was young, just 40. Given a 5 percent chance of living five years, she decided she wanted to see her children grow up and endured an experimental treatment and a bone-marrow transplant before celebrating a disease-free fifth anniversary of her diagnosis.
“Many other women who’d been through this with me had not made it,’’ Dr. Crivello told the Globe in 2004, when radio station WMJX-FM in Boston honored her with an Exceptional Women award. “I asked myself, Why was I spared?’’
Cancer, it turned out, was malady and muse.
“The experience of being a patient was actually a great gift in disguise,’’ she wrote for the 25th anniversary report of her Harvard and Radcliffe class. “I treat my patients differently now. The illness also opened my mind to evaluating what is called ‘alternative treatment’; in the process, I have made many wonderful friends while pursuing nontraditional methods of healing.’’
Dr. Crivello, the first director of women’s imaging at the Hoffman Breast Center at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, died of a recurrence of cancer on Feb. 19 at Avow Hospice in Naples, Fla., near where she was staying with relatives to avoid the winter cold. She was 58 and lived in Newtonville.
“She had an internal spiritual strength that was tied up in her Catholicism and her personality, and they were intertwined,’’ said Dr. Michael J. Shortsleeve, who chairs the radiology department at Mount Auburn Hospital. “Madeline used this incredible inner strength to her advantage and to her patients’ advantage. When she would talk to you, you had a sense that she had this inner energy that was helping to heal her, and that she would transfer to other people to heal them.’’
Alice Hoffman, a novelist who lives in Cambridge, lent her name and financial support to the center at Mount Auburn Hospital after being treated there for breast cancer and encountering physicians such as Dr. Crivello.
“I was the first patient she came out to as a survivor,’’ Hoffman said. “In comforting me, she told me her own story. Then she began to do that with other people, and it was hugely comforting. She was a great caregiver as a doctor, but she was also a great caregiver as an incredibly passionate woman and a survivor.’’
Hoffman was among the writers who honored Dr. Crivello with a Rheta Foster Award in 2009 during an “Evening With Your Favorite Authors’’ gathering in Cambridge.
Hearing Dr. Crivello’s story “meant a great deal to me and to her, because she no longer had to keep those parts of her separate and could be a whole person with her patients, which was really rare in those relationships,’’ Hoffman said. “You felt cared for in a deep, almost spiritual way when she cared for you.’’
Healing was a calling Madeline Silvia Crivello first heard growing up in Milwaukee and suburban Glendale, Wis., when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at 35.
“When Mom was near death, Lena was 13,’’ said her brother Frank of Pompano Beach, Fla. “She knew at that moment that she had to be a doctor and had to serve other people.’’
Her parents were immigrants from Sicily and years later, to celebrate the fifth anniversary of her cancer diagnosis, she visited “a small fishing village where they were born and raised,’’ Dr. Crivello wrote in her 25th anniversary Harvard-Radcliffe report. “I was so touched to be able to stand in the small church where they had been baptized and look at the statues I had heard so much about.’’
She graduated in 1969 from Nicolet High School in Glendale, from Radcliffe four years later, and from the Yale School of Medicine in 1977. After further training, including as chief resident in radiology at Beth Israel Hospital, she began her career and soon joined the staff of Mount Auburn.
“Madeline was one of the most organized persons you can imagine,’’ said Dr. Rose Goldman, a physician at Cambridge Hospital who shared an apartment with Dr. Crivello at Yale. “Besides being very intelligent, she was very quick and could do many things quickly and efficiently. She just had tremendous focus to accomplish all the things she wanted to do. In between her courses, she managed to bake loaves of bread.’’
At Mount Auburn and elsewhere, Dr. Crivello was famous for her biscotti and Christmas cookies.
“Madeline was the kind of baker who would find the best of every ingredient,’’ said her friend Caren Cummings Adams, director of interactive communications at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “She would spend the weekend searching for the best hazelnuts, the best this, the best that. And then she would spend the entire next weekend baking. She never went anywhere empty-handed, and would never go to Dana-Farber without bringing cookies. The doctors would say ‘Thank you,’ and she would say, ‘This is so you will cure me.’ ’’
Dr. Crivello, whose marriage to Dr. Edward Nardell ended in divorce, lived more than 18 years beyond her diagnosis, long enough to see her daughter, Maria Nardell, begin studying medicine and son, Anthony Nardell, approach graduation from Marquette University in Milwaukee.
“She’s always been an inspiration to all of us, and particularly me as someone who followed in her footsteps,’’ said Maria, who, like her mother, went to Harvard and now is at Yale’s medical school.
“I didn’t always want it to seem like I was doing exactly what she was doing, but as I’ve gotten older, and especially now, I feel it’s the greatest honor to be considered like her.’’
Dr. Crivello, her daughter said, “was very intuitive with people, and as her daughter, we were incredibly close. She could read a blink.’’
In addition to her daughter, son, and brother, Dr. Crivello leaves another brother, Joseph of Storrs, Conn.
A memorial service is planned for 3 p.m. Friday in the auditorium of Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge.
“She drew people to her, at events or even small dinner parties,’’ her daughter said. “She had an interest in everybody, loved learning about people, and people loved her.’’
As Dr. Crivello opened herself to healing possibilities beyond the bounds of traditional medicine, “she felt there was more on this earth than we could see or touch,’’ Adams said. During a visit to Florida when Dr. Crivello was dying, “I said, ‘This is not goodbye; if anybody in this world can communicate with me from beyond, it’s you, so don’t say goodbye.’ And she said, ‘No, this is not goodbye.’ ’’
GREG GAUVIN, MD
GAUVIN, Gregory P., M.D. Age 62, of Lincoln, formerly of Westmont, NJ, died on April 12, 2009, at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center from prostate cancer. He is survived by his devoted wife, MaryLou, and loving daughter, Michelle.
The memory of former Lincoln resident Dr. Greg Gauvin, who passed away last year of prostate cancer, will live on in the form of an art gallery at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge.
Not only was Greg a talented physician, practicing pathology at Mount Auburn for more than 30 years; he was also an accomplished artist and athlete.
Greg completed the Boston Marathon 28 times and took thousands of black-and-white photographs, many of which were exhibited in Lincoln and elsewhere.
“He really fell in love with photography and darkroom technique when he was in high school,” said Gauvin’s wife, Mary Lou. “He didn’t have a whole lot of time for photography while he was in medical school and going through his internship and his residency, although he still loved photography and would still go to museums and art galleries.”
After completing medical school at Thomas Jefferson University’s Jefferson Medical College, Greg undertook his internship at St. Elizabeth Medical Center and his residency at New England Medical Center. He did a specialty residency at the University of Vermont before finally going to work at Mount Auburn, where he worked and taught for more than 30 years, including 10 as Chief of Pathology.
During this time, he focused his lens on the New England environment, taking pictures of the woods and fields of Lincoln and surrounding areas.
“He really had a great respect for the power and beauty of nature, and that’s what he really focused his photographs on,” Mary Lou said. “He found that nature offered a visual experience that was limitless.”
Mary Lou said her husband was especially interested in the way images would change over time.
“He would often return to a site that he had been to over and over again, just to try to capture a image in a different lighting situation or a different seasonal change,” she said.
Mary Lou said noted photographer Bill Cliff, whose mother lived in Lincoln, became good friends with Gauvin and was supportive of his hobby.
“Anytime he was in town he would come here and Greg would show him his work and he would show Greg his stuff,” she said. “He thought a lot of Greg’s work, he thought Greg had a lot of talent.”
Michael O’Connell, Vice President for Planning and Marketing at Mount Auburn, knew Greg Gauvin for 28 years and said he was a very skilled physician.
“He always was able to be a calming influence,” O’Connell said. “He also had great ability to just listen and not react, and then take all the information that he had gathered to come back with a solution or idea or suggestion on how to better the situation.”
O’Connell said Gauvin was known within the organization for being generous with his artwork.
“When someone was leaving or got a promotion or some landmark experience in your life, he would give you one of his black-and-white photographs,” he said.
This lasting reputation led to the decision to honor him with a permanent art space.
“We built a new building … [and] there were lots of places that had empty wall space,” O’Connell said. “We started an art program to fill that space and give warmth and health for people who were sick to be nurtured by the arts around them.”
The gallery, which was unveiled in June to a crowd of over 100 people and will officially open in August, will display two exhibitions of Gauvin’s photographs before beginning to display other artists’ work.
Lincoln Cemetery in Snow. Photograph by Greg Gauvin
Psalm 23 : A Psalm of David
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever
