Dr. John J. Massarelli Jr.

Dr. John J. Massarelli Jr., 82, of Worcester, died Sunday, August 22, 2010.

His wife of 47 years, Vera A. (Maietta) Massarelli, died in 1999.

He leaves four sons: John J. Massarelli, III of New York City, Peter J.P. Massarelli and his wife Anne Johnson of Charlottesville, VA, Richard Massarelli and his wife Hiroko of Boston, and Robert Massarelli of Worcester; a daughter, JoAnn J. Massarelli and her husband Marc Tumeinski of Worcester; three granddaughters: Emelia, Eva and Isabella Massarelli; a brother Daniel J. Massarelli; a sister, Kathleen Massarelli, both of Bayonne, N.J.; his soul mate in recent years, Evelyn Taylor of Delray Beach, Florida; and several nieces and nephews. He also leaves a daughter-in-law, Barbara St John. His son, Thomas J. Massarelli, died in 1998. His sister, Sister Ann Massarelli S.S.J., also predeceased him.

Dr. Massarelli was born in Bayonne, N.J., son of John J. and Josephine (Hurley) Massarelli. He has lived in Worcester 53 years.

He attended St. Peter's Prep and St. Peter's College in Jersey City, N.J., and graduated from Georgetown University Medical School in Washington, D.C. in 1950 at age 22.

Dr. Massarelli trained in gastroenterology under a joint fellowship program with the Mayo Clinic and the University of Minnesota Medical School.

He was a Captain in a U.S. Army medical unit in Korea during the Korean War, where he served as a psychiatrist. While in the Army, he did some medical teaching in Seoul and met his wife, Vera in Tokyo, who was also from Bayonne. They married in Japan in 1952.

In 1957, Dr. Massarelli became the fifth physician on the medical staff of the Fallon Clinic in Worcester. An internist with a specialty in gastroenterology, he was a highly respected diagnostician among physicians. He was dedicated to the practice of medicine and remained with the clinic for 42 years, retiring in 1999.

He helped establish the geriatric dept. at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he was a longtime adjunct professor. He was a fellow of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Massarelli was President of the Massachusetts Society of Internal Medicine and the Worcester District Medical Society.

Dr. Massarelli contributed many articles to medical publications and was editor of the "Worcester District Medical News", now "Worcester Medicine". He was a book editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). He coauthored with Dr. Herbert Dean: "Look to Your Health", and he wrote the recent history of the Worcester District Medical Society: "A Community of Physicians."

Calling hours are Wednesday, August 25, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at the Athy Memorial Home, 111 Lancaster St., Worcester. The funeral will be held on Thursday, August 26 from the funeral home with a Mass at 11 a.m. in Immaculate Conception Church, 353 Grove St., Worcester. Burial will be in St. John's Cemetery.

Donations in his memory may be made to the Worcester District Medical Society, 321 Main St., Worcester 01608, to benefit its publication "Worcester Medicine".