Dr. Joseph Benjamin Alpers of Natick passed away on November 20, 2011 at the age of 86.
He was the loving husband of Edith (Dotty) Alpers, father of Charles Alpers and his wife Patty Spring and Terry Jean Seligmann, grandfather of Ben, Will, Jenny and Rob, brother of Harriet Strogoff and Phineas Alpers and his wife Carol, brother-in-law of Harold Shapero and Esther Geller. Also survived by many caring nieces and nephews.
Born in Salem as the youngest of seven brothers and sisters, he attended Salem High School. He served during World War II with the Army's 245th Engineers in the European theater. He attended Yale University, graduated from Columbia P & S Medical School, and received his PhD in biochemistry from New York University. He did his residency at New York Hospital and then joined the Sloan Kettering Institute for post-doctoral research. Following this, he held an appointment in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the Harvard Medical School. He then assumed the position of Director of Clinical Laboratories at Children's Hospital in Boston, a position which he held for more than twenty years until his retirement. He became an enthusiastic collector of silver, wooden boxes, and camel teapots. This took him and his wife to many antique shows and flea markets. He read voraciously, and participated in the same book group for nearly thirty years. He attended theater, museums, concerts and travelled widely. He was known to his friends as a cultured, intelligent man who was also generous, caring, and interested in others.
Services will be held in the John Everett & Sons Funeral Home, 4 Park Street, Natick, on Wednesday November 23 at 1:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Civil Liberties Union (125 Broad St., New York, NY 10004).