Richard Dickinson Otis M.D.

Richard Dickinson Otis, M.D. Richard Dickinson Otis, M.D. of Waquoit, Massachusetts died on August 15th at home at the age of 90 after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease. Born in Meriden, Connecticut, he was the son of Fessenden Newport Otis, M.D. and Anna Gerstenmaier Otis, R.N. He was the husband of the late Mary Hamlen Otis, R.N. to whom he was married for 64 years. She died in 2013. He attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut in 1943 as part of the US Navy V12 training program. As a US Naval officer, he enrolled in Yale University School of Medicine in 1945 where he met his future wife, Mary, who was attending the Yale School of Nursing. He earned his doctorate in medicine in 1949 and from 1949-1950 was a resident physician in Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics. From 1952-1954, he was enrolled as a postgraduate in basic sciences at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, where his interests centered on tropical diseases. Returning to Yale University, he completed residency in Pathology in 1956 and soon after joined the department of Pathology at Hartford Hospital as a fellow, rising to the position of Chief of Anatomic Pathology before his retirement on 1986. Dr. Otis was a highly respected pathologist with particular expertise in cytopathology. Hundreds of resident physicians and fellows in pathology were trained under his tutelage with some later to reach prominent positions and leaders in the field of pathology. Most importantly, he was considered a friend and mentor to many of his professional colleagues. Known to his colleagues, family, and friends by his nickname Dick, he had a remarkable range of interests beyond medicine, including entomology, WWII naval history, antique and classic automobiles, photography, and trees. His broad span of knowledge reflected his infectious desire for life long education, a trait that many who knew him embraced. As a child, he raised honeybees and collected butterflies. Later in life his interests involved automobiles including being one of the first owners of the original 1955 Ford Thunderbird and the major restoration of several antique Rolls Royce automobiles. He also had a particular fondness for the trees and other florae he often raised from seed or cuttings and planted in the family woodlands. As with many others of the Greatest Generation, he loved to tell stories of his experience as a Naval medical officer whether in Newport, Washington DC, Brooklyn, or Times Square on VE Day. He was a longstanding member and lecturer of the Beaumont Medical Club at Yale University School of Medicine, a faculty member in Pathology at Yale University and the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and the director of the Hartford Hospital School of Cytotechnology. He led a very rich and colorful family life, married to his wife Mary and raising four boys. He leaves his sister Cynthia Anne Otis of New York, his sons James Hamlen Otis and his wife Eva Hugoson Otis of Guilford CT, Richard Dickinson Otis, Jr and his spouse Anthony Genero Santucci of Washington DC, Christopher Newport Otis and his wife Roxanne Rene Florence of Wilbraham Massachusetts and John Bradford Otis and his wife Mindy Lorraine Otis of Higganum Connecticut. He also leaves his grandchildren Andrew Harrison Otis and Sarah Cooper Otis, and his step grandchildren Nicholas Andres Lorenzana and Nolan Sebastian Lorenzana. The world is a better place because of him. All who knew him will dearly miss him. The family wishes to particularly thank Neighborhood Falmouth and many individual caregivers who ensured Mary and Dick were able to continue living at home. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the American Parkinson Disease Association, 135 Parkinson Avenue, Staten Island New York, 10305 (http://www.apdaparkinson.org/ways-to-donate/) or Neighborhood Falmouth, P.O. Box 435, Falmouth, MA 02541(http://www.neighborhoodfalmouth.org/index.html ).