NATICK: Mariusz Richard Ehrlich, M.D. age 92, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family on Thursday night, February 20, 2014, at his Natick home. He was the devoted husband of Romana M. (Zarudzka) Ehrlich, for 52 years.
Born in Siedlce, Poland, he was a son of the late Czestaw and Janina (Kos) Ehrlich. He was raised and educated in Lwow, a city he loved for the rest of his life, though he never was to see it again after age 17. He, his mother, and siblings were deported to Siberia to work in a labor camp; his father was killed in the Katyn Forest Massacre. In 1942, Mariusz was able to join the Polish Army in exile under General Wladyslaw Anders. “Anders Army” left Siberia through the Persian Corridor, eventually arriving in Palestine. Anders trained his troops and led the newly named 2nd Polish Corps to fight alongside the Western Allies. They fought in northern Italy from 1943 until 1946, and were best known for their capture of Monte Cassino after a long and arduous campaign.
Mariusz studied medicine after the war at Italy’s University of Bologna. He immigrated to the United States in 1956 and continued his education and served a residency in radiology at the Roosevelt Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. While there he met Romana and married in 1961. They moved a short time later to Massachusetts, and settled in Wellesley to make a home for their new family. Dr. Ehrlich joined physicians in forming Quincy Radiology Associates. He was to practice with the group for over 30 years. He and Romana moved to their current home in Natick after his retirement.
He is survived by Romana; their daughter, Maria Ehrlich and husband Kenny Rogers of Manhattan, NY; and son, Paul Ehrlich and wife Gwen Chang of Brooklyn, NY; and a much-loved grandson, Robert Ehrlich.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in Saint Patrick’s Church, 44 East Central Street, Natick, on Monday, March 10th at 10:00a.m. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Dr. Ehrlich’s name may be made to Saint Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105, or the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 417005, Boston, MA 02441-7005.