Andrew D. “Andy” Guthrie, Jr., M.D., age 87, a 44-year resident of Winchester, formerly of Medford, long-time pediatrician and children’s advocate, passed away at his home on Sept. 13, 2016, lovingly surrounded by his family. He was the beloved husband for 61 years of the late Catherine (Meskell) Guthrie, until her passing in 2014. Born in Medford, he was the son of the late Andrew D. and Virginia (McGrath) Guthrie. Andy graduated from Malden Catholic High School and received his B.S. from Georgetown University. He went on to earn his M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine, like his father before him and his daughter Ellen after him.
Upon graduation, Dr. Guthrie enlisted in the U.S. Navy where he served as a LT (MC) in the USNR Medical Corps. Second Marine Division, U.S.M.C. and as a Rotating Intern at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Bethesda, MD from 1953-1954. After discharge, Dr. Guthrie performed his residency in Pediatrics at Tulane University with the Charity Hospital of Louisiana at New Orleans. At that time, he was also a Training Fellow with the National Foundation of Infantile Paralysis in Houston, TX. He subsequently completed his Clinical Fellows in Adolescent Medicine at Children’s Hospital in Boston in 1959.
Dr. Guthrie returned to his roots and practiced Pediatrics in Medford and the Boston area until 1995. Dr. Guthrie hired one of the first nurse practitioners in the Commonwealth of MA to work with him in his private practice.
Dr. Guthrie also held various pediatric and instructor positions at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Boston University School of Medicine, most notably as an Associate Pediatrician and the Chief of Children’s Service in the Ambulatory Division at Massachusetts General Hospital, as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, and as Executive Director of the Bunker Hill and Chelsea Health Centers of the Massachusetts General Hospital.
A member of many community, charitable and youth-oriented associations, Dr. Guthrie was a former Chairman of the United Fund Drive in Medford, President of the Medford Mental Health Association, Board Member of the Tri-City Mental Health Center, member of the Board of Directors of the “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” in Boston, Co-Director of the Youth Street Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, the Board of Directors of the Catholic Charitable Bureau of Boston, Vice President of Children’s Advocates, Inc. in Boston, and the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Committee on Children and Youth. Dr. Guthrie also made several trips to Haiti with the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation, where he volunteered his medical care services in Fonds des Blancs.
Dr. Guthrie also served on various committees to champion the needs of children and adolescents, including the Massachusetts Committee on Children and Youth Task Force on Statewide Children’s Health Needs: “Putting Children First”, and several committees with the American Academy of Pediatrics, including the Executive Committee, the Committee on Adolescence, and the Committee on Community Practices. As a strong advocate for homeless teenagers, Dr. Guthrie was a co-founder and proud supporter of the Bridge Over Troubled Waters’ Street Outreach and Mobile Medical Van. His belief that the children weren’t necessarily “runaways” as much as they were society’s “throw-aways” fostered his opinion that he was not always there for medical care as much as sometimes just being there to talk to them.
Dr. Guthrie’s professional affiliations include membership in the Massachusetts Medical Society, the American Medical Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the New England Pediatric Society, the Ambulatory Pediatric Association and the Society for Adolescent Medicine. His many medical publications and abstracts include, “Health Care Needs of American Children, Raising Children in Modern America” (1976), “Child Abuse on Main Street” (1975), and “Mobile Medical Care for Alienated Adolescents: A Case Report” (1972).
In addition to his busy and fulfilling professional medical career, Dr. Guthrie and his wife raised seven children, and found time in their community to serve as active members of St. Eulalia’s Church in Winchester. Besides being a father and physician, his first love was music. As an accomplished musician, he played a variety of instruments, including the clarinet and accordion, but he especially enjoyed the piano. He even composed several pieces. An avid downhill skier, Dr. Guthrie also enjoyed spending time at the family vacation home in Jackson, NH, and took annual ski vacations at Mittersill, Franconia Notch, NH with his wife and close friends, and one year ventured to Europe to ski with this group. Known for his great sense of humor, Andy was always happy to hear a good joke or tell one.
Included among his many interests and hobbies, along with music and downhill skiing, were gardening, photography, genealogy, the Red Sox, reading Sci-Fi, mysteries and professional periodicals, and computers. His daughter Denise remembered that the Guthries were the last family to get a colored television, but the FIRST to get a computer.
Dr. Guthrie was the devoted father of Denise (John) Dawley of Winchester, Andrew D. Guthrie III (Karen) of Andover, Aideen (Thomas) Hunt and of Lynn, Ellen Guthrie, MD of Winchester, David (Ursula) Guthrie of N. Andover, Suzanne (Dennis) Paradis of Strafford, NH, and Ted (Debbie) Guthrie of Winchester, and the dear brother of the late Thomas F. Richard A. and Frederick L. Guthrie and brother-in-law of Agnes Guthrie of Stoneham, Norma Guthrie Goodhue of Orleans and Rev. David Meskell of Boston. He was the loving grandfather of John (Maria), Patrick (Colby) & Michael Dawley, Michelle Guthrie, Thomas, Brenna & Julianne Hunt, Shannon & Kyle DuBois, Mikayla, Mackenzie & Nikolaus Guthrie, Teddy, John & Maxine Guthrie and newborn great-granddaughter Delaney Dawley. He is also survived by eight nieces and nephews. Relatives and friends are invited to gather at Costello Funeral Home, 177 Washington St., Winchester, on Tuesday, Sept. 20 from 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM, and again on Wed., Sept. 21 @ 10:00 AM followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Eulalia’s Church, 50 Ridge St., Winchester, at 11:00AM. Interment will follow in Oak Grove Cemetery, Medford. In lieu of flowers, donations in Dr. Guthrie’s memory may be made to Bridge Over Troubled Waters (specify Street Outreach & Mobile Medical Van), 47 West St., Boston, MA 02111 or at https://botw.ejoinme.org/MyPages/Donations2016/tabid/749930/Default.aspx.