By the Family

Jul. 19, 2017:  Bronxville native Dr. Carl H. Andrus, 82, died peacefully on July 11, 2017, at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY.

A son of the late Dr. William DeWitt Andrus and the late Lucy Huber Andrus, he was born in 1935 in New York City and raised in Bronxville. He graduated from Bronxville High School in 1953, received a BA in English from Amherst College in 1957 and an MD from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1962, and completed his surgical internship at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in 1963.

As a lieutenant in the US Navy from 1963 to 1965, he was stationed in Antarctica, where he served as medical officer and, in 1964, officer-in-charge at Byrd Station. He returned to Rochester for his surgical residency and soon met Noelle Craig – also a student at the university – whom he married in 1966. From 1968 to 1970, he studied as a fellow in immunology at Duke University, following which he was awarded an MA.

Dr. Andrus practiced medicine in Rochester for over 50 years, both in private practice and at the University of Rochester Medical Center, first as assistant professor of surgery and then as associate professor of surgery. A general surgeon, Dr. Andrus initially focused on kidney transplantation and vascular surgery before shifting to surgical oncology with an emphasis on the treatment of breast and endocrine cancers.

A scientist and a humanist, Dr. Andrus found great joy in teaching younger generations of surgeons and cared for his patients with compassion and kindness. He served as president of the Rochester Academy of Medicine from 1984 to 1985 and was appointed professor emeritus of surgery and oncology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in 2013.

Carl was a devoted and supportive husband, father, brother, uncle, and friend and a calm, sweet man whose generosity of spirit and ability to live in the moment were appreciated by all who knew him.

Though medicine was his true calling, he had many other interests. He was passionate about music and played many instruments. While at Amherst, he sang in the Glee Club and DQ. An aficionado of opera and classical music, he loved to attend performances at the Met and Rochester Philharmonic and to listen to WQXR and Rochester station WXXI. A skilled craftsman, he built a clavichord in his 40s. In his 70s he took up the cello. 

Carl loved poetry and was a voracious reader. A student of American history with an interest in the Civil War, he was working on a book based on the memoirs of his great-grandfather, the Union Army surgeon Charles Hawley Andrus.

An avid outdoorsman, Carl relished spending time during the summer at the rustic island in Vermont he shared with his beloved extended family. He enjoyed canoeing and sailing and was an enthusiastic bird-watcher and photographer of nature and people. He tied his own flies and loved to fish the rivers and lakes of New York and New England for trout and bass, often in the company of his brother Bill. He climbed the Matterhorn as a young man and was an Adirondack 46er. Mount Andrus, a volcano in Antarctica, was named after him in honor of his service at Byrd Station.

He is survived by his loving wife of 50 years, Noelle, his son, Michael, his daughter, Jennifer, his sister Anne Andrus Grady, his sisters-in-law Georgeann Andrus, Patricia Riviello, Donna MacDonald, and Angela Craig, his brothers-in-law George Grady, Bruce MacDonald, Ron Bendian, and Chris Craig, and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. His sister Margaret Andrus Henry, brother William Andrus Jr., and brothers-in-law Fritz Henry and Peter Gagnon predeceased him.

A memorial service will be held in September at the Rochester Academy of Medicine. In lieu of flowers, kindly consider donations to the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Medical Scholarship Fund.