Kupeli, Istrati "Steve" 87, of Palm Beach, FL and North Falmouth, MA, formerly of Wellesley, MA, passed away peacefully on April 8, 2023.
Steve was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, where he received his medical degree in 1961. Three days after marrying the love of his life, Rosina, in September 1961 they came to the United States. After training in New Jersey and Montreal, Canada, Steve settled in the Boston area where in 1971 he started practicing as an Anesthesiologist at the New England Deaconess Hospital and joined the Harvard Medical School faculty. Shortly thereafter, he founded Anesthesia Associates of Boston (AAB) with three colleagues. Under his leadership AAB grew to over 100 anesthesiologists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, technicians, and other professionals who provided anesthesia services to numerous hospitals including the New England Deaconess Hospital, New England Baptist Hospital, Lowell General Hospital and later Boston Medical Center.
Steve loved the practice of medicine and caring for his patients which included heads of state, royalty, celebrities and, most important to him, the Greater Boston community. Medicine was his true calling. He authored numerous articles and contributed to books on anesthesia. Steve was a member of the medical team that performed the first liver transplant in Boston and helped develop a transfusion device for use in these procedures.
Steve never lost the love of the sea that he developed on the shore of the Bosporus. He was a lifelong swimmer, boater and devotee of the water from which he was rarely more than a few steps. In retirement, Steve developed a love for cooking to which he brought his operating room precision and an ample dose of love. Steve took great joy in presenting family and friends with his delicious creations and relished the happiness and connection food brought to family and friends. This was a tangible representation of Steve’s truest passion, his love of family.
Steve was predeceased by his wife of over 40 years, Rosina Kupeli. He is survived by his son and daughter-in- law Larry and Janet Kupeli of Danville, CA; his daughter and son-in-law, Mary Ann and James Horgan of Wellesley, MA; his grandchildren, Steven Kupeli of Brighton, MA; Jacqueline Kupeli of Hoboken, NJ, and Courtney Horgan of Wellesley, MA; and his nephew, Aristidis Panolaridis of Athens, Greece.
There will be a private interment service at Woodlawn Cemetery in Wellesley, MA. In lieu of flowers, friends are asked to consider making a donation to The Home for Little Wanderers ( thehome.org ) in Steve’s memory.