Neary Named 20th Recipient Of BMC Honor Roll Award

PITTSFIELD, MA — The name of the late J. Ryder Neary, M.D. will be placed on the Berkshire Medical Center Honor Roll, joining a list of 19 previous honorees who were all singled out for their exceptional commitment to the medical profession.

Neary, who passed away in January of this year, was a well-known, respected, long-serving surgeon in the Berkshires who was a founding member of Doctor’s Park in Pittsfield and Berkshire Surgical Associates. Neary served as Berkshire Medical Center’s chief of surgery from 1970 to 1972, and was president of the hospital’s Occupational Health Center.

After serving as a captain in the U.S. Air Force and chief of surgery at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, Neary started his physician practice in Pittsfield in 1954, serving patients in a home office on West Street. He served as a surgeon at Pittsfield General Hospital, BMC’s predecessor, and at the former St. Luke’s and Hillcrest Hospitals in the city. He was Crane & Company’s private physician, serving in that capacity for 25-years, until 1995.

Neary received his medical degree from the University of Vermont Medical School and served his internship and residency training at St. Raphael’s Hospital in New Haven, Conn. He was also chief surgical resident at Highland Hospital in Rochester, New York.

Neary was recognized at the annual BMC Physician Appreciation Dinner, held at the Country Club of Pittsfield, an event that pays tribute to the medical staff of Berkshire Medical Center. Several members of Neary’s family were in attendance at the tribute. During the dinner, Berkshire Health Systems Board of Trustees Chair Ann Trabulsi announced that the Board was honoring Neary with the placement of his name on the BMC Honor Roll, which is displayed in the main corridor of the Medical Center.

Created in 1992, the Honor Roll was established to “recognize in a permanent way members of the medical staff whose work has brought honor and distinction to the profession and to the institution.” Previous recipients of the Honor Roll designation are: Daniel Dorman, Herbert Glodt, Franklin Paddock, George Porter, Ralph Zupanec, Robert Cella, Sr., John Gowdey, Rita Jacobs, Samual Tarnower, Robert Tracy, Peter Nikitas, Clement Curd, Howard Kanner, Alan Michelson, George Vazakas, Raymond Austin, G. Thomas Stowe, Joel Curran and Gerald Haidak.