ALAN JAMES MCCARTNEY

1934 - 2015

McCartney, Alan James Of Rutland, VT, formerly of Chestnut Hill and Wellesley. November 15, 2015. Physician, father, grandfather, friend and punmaster, Alan was born Dec. 26, 1934, to Elwood and Olive McCartney. He grew up in Bronxville, N.Y., was an Eagle Scout, majored in chemical engineering at Yale and worked briefly at Dow Chemical. Deciding medicine was the right prescription, he went to medical school at Tufts. After completing his training, he served two years as an Army captain in Fort Knox, KY, where he contributed groundbreaking research on lasers in ophthalmology. An internist and gastroenterologist at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Alan was an old-fashioned doctor who made house calls and always treated patients with respect and compassion. Even after retiring, he continued seeing patients at a VA hospital. Alan wed Harriet Richey in 1958 and they had three children during their marriage. He relished rounds of terrible puns over dinner and relaxed with Red Sox radio broadcasts. He loved golf, playing cards, singing in the church choir, stout beer and any Patriots' win. In 1986, Alan married Bridget (Betsy) Gately Luz in Rome, Italy. The couple lived in Chestnut Hill before retiring to Florida and Cape Cod. They enjoyed travel, Betsy's native Ireland, golf and long walks together before Betsy's untimely death in 2006. He is survived by his children, Scott (Karen Blumenthal) of Dallas, Jeffrey (Rebecca) of Los Gatos, CA, and Meredith McCartney Smith (Brian) of Chittenden; stepsons Thomas Luz (Caroline) of Darien, CT, Martin Luz (Steven Wallace) of Los Angeles, John Luz of San Diego and Christopher Luz of Holiday, FL, and grandchildren Maggie, Wesley, Abby, Jenny, Emily, Helen, Julia and Timothy. A celebration of his life and bad jokes will be held Sat., Nov. 28, at 2 p.m. at the Church of the Wildwood in Chittenden, VT. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations for a scholarship in Alan's name at Otter Valley H.S., 2997 Franklin St, Brandon, VT 05733. The family would like to thank the kind and compassionate staff at The Meadows for years of outstanding care.