Richard Masson Engel

Dr. Richard M. Engel, 65, Cumberland Center, an Internal Medicine specialist for the last 39 years, died Wednesday evening July 5 2017, with his family by his side, of complications of a stroke he suffered early Monday. Richard was born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Carl H. Engel, a finance executive and engineer, and Helen Masson Engel, whose father was a professor of finance at Harvard Business School. After graduating cum laude from Harvard, Richard attended the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, where he and his wife, Barbara, met as lab partners. He graduated with honors in 1978, and then completed his Internship at the University of Rochester and his Internal Medicine residency at the Maine Medical Center in Portland.

Richard had many roles in his medical career, as leader, teacher, mentor and innovator. He was devoted to improving the quality of care for adults in the state of Maine as well as the work lives of his physician colleagues. He was active in leadership roles at both Maine Health/Maine Medical Center and the Greater Portland Medical Group, a practice that he helped conceive. In addition to enjoying a very real connection to his patients, he had a passion for teaching and was a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Vermont from 1980-2009 and held the same position at Tufts University School of Medicine from 2009 until his death. He served as Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine, Maine Medical Center, for many years, as well as Medical Director of the Greater Portland Medical Group. He served as the elected Governor of the Maine Chapter of the American College of Physicians from 2006 to 2010 and received the organization’s Laureate Award in 2011. The award is given to Fellows of the College of Physicians who demonstrate an abiding commitment to excellence in medical care, education and service to their community.

Richard was an intelligent, quiet and generous friend with an impish and wry sense of humor. He had a love for Jeeps, animals and the outdoors, which he developed as a boy at Camp Najerog in the Vermont woods, and as a young adult volunteering as a medic in the Sahara desert, North Africa, with his camel, Edna. He enjoyed adventures with his family throughout his life especially boating along the Maine Coast. He was always trying to learn and earned his commercial Captain’s license along the way. He appreciated the simple pleasures of, in his words, “a sail on the bay and a tramp in the northern woods.” He was the best of dads and will be missed more than he could have possibly imagined.

He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Dr. Barbara Chilmonczyk, of Cumberland Center; son Hadrian, wife Kate and their 3-month old daughter, Jordyn, of Woburn, MA; daughter Kathryn of Yarmouth, ME, and son Christopher of Boston, MA. He is also survived by his sisters: Carolyn (Richard) Comfort of Paris, France, and Chatham, MA, and Margaret (Walter) Parker, of St. Paul, MN; and Aunt Jane M. Jackson of Shaker Heights, OH, and Centerville, MA. Richard also leaves behind his constant canine companion of the last seven years, Suzie.

Memorial visiting hours will be held Saturday, July 22, 2017 from 2-4 pm followed at 4pm by a Celebration of Life at the Maine Audubon Center in Falmouth, Me. The family requests that any tributes be in the form of contributions made in his name to:

Maine Audubon

20 Gilsland Farm Rd.

Falmouth, Maine 04105

Online at maineaudubon.org

Or to the:

MMC General Scholarship Fund

This fund provides scholarship support to medical students enrolled in the Tufts University School of Medicine Maine Medical Center Program, otherwise referred to as the Maine Track Program.

https://fundraising.mmc.org/Maine_Track_Program

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