Joseph (Joel) Lyon Andrews Jr., MD, who lived in Concord for over 25 years, and most recently resided at The Commons in Lincoln, died surrounded by family on April 24, 2023, at 85.
A man of diverse interests and talents, Joel was a caring physician as well as a prolific author, teacher, activist and history buff.
Joel passionately explored the rich history of Concord. He was a founding director of The Concord Guides Walking Tours, which hosted visitors from around the world from 1997 to 2017. Joel authored and published two guidebooks on Concord: “Revolutionary Boston Lexington, and Concord, The Shots Heard ‘Round the World!” and “Literary Concord Uncovered: Revealing Thoreau, Emerson, Alcott, Hawthorne and Fuller.” He was a frequent contributor to the Concord Journal. Joel often lectured on American Colonial and Revolutionary history.
Joel was extremely proud of his Jewish heritage, as a descendant of early Jewish settlers to NYC in the 1690s and of Jewish patriots who supported and fought in the American Revolution. For many years he was an active member of Kerem Shalom synagogue in Concord.
A native of New York City, Joel grew up in Georgetown, Maryland; Washington; and Scarsdale, New York. Throughout his adult life, Joel resided in Boston, Newton, Concord and Lincoln, Massachusetts.
Joel graduated from Amherst College with honors in 1959. He received his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and trained in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine and cardiology at Boston City Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Joel proudly served as a Captain in the U.S Air Force Medical Corps during the Vietnam War.
Joel practiced internal and pulmonary medicine for many years at Lahey Clinic. He also was founder and chair of the Pulmonary Section at the New England Deaconess Hospital, conducted clinical research, and taught as an assistant clinical professor and lecturer in medicine at Harvard and Tufts Medical Schools.
Joel cared for thousands of individuals with smoking-related illnesses and was a public health champion and pioneer at the forefront of advancing smoking cessation programs and no-smoking policies in the 1970s.
Joel was a loving and supportive father of three children, grandfather to five boys that he adored, and a dedicated brother and uncle.
Joel’s family gathered for a private burial service at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord. A celebration of life will be planned for a later date.
Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord. For his full obituary and online guestbook, please visit www.DeeFuneralHome.com.
