George A. Ellsworth M.D.

George Avery Ellsworth MD (1942-2017), devoted father of, Max, and wonderful husband of Mara, died peacefully on Friday afternoon, December 29th, at home. He rested smiling. He was a joyful, compassionate and intelligent man who loved his friends, colleagues, patients and family. George was passionate about life. He had a very active career as a physician, educator and political activist. A talented clinician, Dr. Ellsworth dedicated himself for 35 years to practicing psychiatry at MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham and at the Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick. He also consulted at Wellesley Colleges Stone Center as a psychiatrist for 17 years. At MetroWest Medical Center, Dr. Ellsworth was engaged in many areas of hospital life, including the Multiple Sclerosis Clinic, the Ambulatory Care Clinic and the Ethics Committee. He chaired the Graduate Medical Education Committee and the Continuing Medical Education Committee in addition to a busy practice on the medical floors of MetroWest and on the Geriatric Psychiatry Unit at Leonard Morse. The George Ellsworth Citizenship Award was established by Georges colleagues at MetroWest in 2009 to honor Georges commitment to medical education, the zeal he brought to work each day and his overall dedication to the medical center. George was recently awarded the Community Clinician of the Year Award from the Massachusetts Medical Society where he was an active delegate and a huge proponent of single payer healthcare. George grew up in Manhattan, Kansas, the son of Kansas State University physics professor, Louis Ellsworth and school librarian, Lillian Ellsworth. He attended Harvard Medical School and did his residency at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, relishing his experiences at both institutions. After his fellowship at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, George served in the Public Health Service and worked at North Shore University Hospital in New York. He then moved back to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was born, to work as Associate Director of Psychiatry at the Tufts Medical Center in Boston. Patient, warm and unassuming, George had a vast knowledge of medicine and a good sense of humor. Though he felt a self-expectation to research and publish, his calling was clearly in clinical work. He loved teaching, learning about different medical specialties and engaging directly with patients. A skillful interviewer, he taught interviewing techniques to the medical residents at MetroWest. Earlier in his career, he held teaching positions at Georgetown Medical School, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Cornell University Medical College, Tufts University Medical College and Boston University School of Medicine. Committed to social change, George was an active member the Boston chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War from 1989-1997. After being diagnosed a year ago with pancreatic cancer, George remained his cheerful self but eventually succumbed, leaving his wife Mara and his son, Max, sister, Blake Kuppinger and brother-in-law Mitch Kuppinger of Fort Worth, Texas, nephew, Dane Kuppinger, niece, Paige Hixson and their children as well as many dear friends and colleagues. A memorial service is being planned for the spring.