Joseph Belsky

Joseph Belsky
Joseph Lewis Belsky died in hospice care on 17 Sep 2025, halfway through his 99th year as he was prone to say. His long and productive life began modestly in northern New Jersey. He loved reading and had initial interest in becoming a writer or journalist, but attended Drew University as a premedical student majoring in chemistry. After a stint in the Navy and a master's degree in chemistry from Wesleyan University, Joe was admitted to Albany Medical College, graduating in 1955. Near the beginning of his internship and residencies at Boston City Hospital and the Boston VA hospital, he married Jane Thompson. In short order they became the parents of four children, and in 1964 Joe began what would become a half-century engagement with Danbury Hospital, contributing to its evolution from a small community hospital into an extensive health care delivery complex. He served as its first full-time Director of Medical Education as it became a teaching hospital. He headed the departments of Medicine and Endocrinology, and initiated an annual research day in which to present the dynamic nature of his colleagues' work. He received accolades from local and national professional organizations for his accomplishments as a diagnostician, a leader and a visionary, yet he was always ready to acknowledge the efforts and importance of those in the trenches–the nurses, office staff, administrative workers, librarians and others who made his work possible.
Joe and Jane raised their family in Ridgefield, CT. A life-long learner himself, Joe was elected to the Board of Education and served for many years as a clinical professor at Yale University School of Medicine. This affiliation provided him with the opportunity to bring his family to Japan for three years, where he was Chief of Medicine at the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, a longitudinal investigation studying the delayed effects of radiation from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. This was a professionally and personally rewarding interlude during Joe's Danbury tenure, and it had a durable influence on his entire family.
Reluctantly retiring in his early 90's [after pointed remarks to some of his children who had bailed earlier than he], Joe remained curious and active in his retirement community at East Hill in Southbury, CT. He lost Jane, his wife for nearly 70 years, in May of this year, and is survived by four children [Stephen, Susan, David, Martha and significant others] and seven grandchildren. A celebration of Joe's life will be held at Danbury Hospital's John C. Creasy Auditorium, 24 Hospital Avenue, Danbury, CT on 8 Nov. 2025 at 11:00 a.m. To leave a message of remembrance, please visit www.CarpinoCares.com.