Dr. Joseph Cutry, MD, 97, of Wellsville, died on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, at Jones Memorial Hospital. He was born on November 26, 1927, in Massena, NY, the son of the late Anthony and Antoinette (Macro) Cutry. On July 23, 1960, in New York City, he married Gilda Paternoster, who survives.

He was a graduate of Sacred Heart School and was president of the Massena High School Graduating Class of 1946. He served in the U.S. Army from 1946 to 1948. Under his G.I. Bill, he enrolled at St. Lawrence University in 1948 and received a B.S. degree in Chemistry in 1952; during his time at SLU he was a Dean’s List scholar, and in his senior year was president of Tri-Beta (the biology honorary society) and vice-president of Kappa Epsilon Mu (the chemistry honorary society). He was also a member of The American Chemical Society and Sigma Pi fraternity. 

After graduating from SLU, he was hired as a chemist by the Aluminum Company of America. A few months later, he decided to pursue an earlier goal to become a physician and enrolled in the six-year course in medicine and surgery at the University of Bologna in Italy. In his second and third years in medical school, he applied for and was accepted as a student instructor in the Anatomy Department based upon his scholastic achievement as a freshman. In his fifth year in medical school, he wrote a compendium on Diseases of the Nervous System. He graduated from medical school in 1958 with an overall scholastic average of 93%.

From 1958 to 1962 he completed four years of post-graduate medical training, including a Rotating Internship and Radiology Residency, at the Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, NYC. He became board certified in Radiology in 1964. The certification included radiologic diagnosis, radiation therapy and nuclear medicine. 

From 1962 to 1965 he worked at the Potsdam Hospital in Potsdam, N.Y. where he practiced radiologic diagnosis, radiation therapy, medical oncology and emergency room medicine. He was Chief of Radiology at Jones memorial Hospital in Wellsville from 1965 to 1975 and held the same post at Charles Cole Memorial Hospital in Coudersport, PA. from 1968 until November 1996, when he retired. 

During his almost four decades of practice, he witnessed the expansion of radiology from plain films to nuclear medicine, sonography, state-of-the-art mammography, computed topography and magnetic resonance imagine. Before applying each new advance to his practice, Dr. Cutry voluntarily returned to university medical training centers for extended periods of up to several months to learn the new modality, at his own expense, while at the same time providing for radiologic coverage during his absence. He was a repeated recipient of The American Medical Association’s ‘Physician’s Recognition Award’ for continuing medical education. He held licenses to practice medicine in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. 

Dr. Cutry was a Diplomate of The American Board of Radiology, a member of The American Medical Association, The American College of Radiology, The Pennsylvania Medical Society, The Pennsylvania Radiological Society, The New York State Radiological Society, The Potter County Medical Society, the Emeritus staff of the Charles Cole Memorial Hospital, a Life member of the Northern Tier Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association and the Wellsville American legion Post 702.

Dr. Cutry loved to read on a wide range of subjects. He enjoyed listening to music, telling jokes, laughter and occasional writing. He had an avid interest in physical fitness, sports medicine and preventive medicine. He was a jogger, alpine skier, bodybuilder and continued to pole vault into his mid-seventies. He was inducted into the Massena High School athletic hall of fame as a letterman on the undefeated 1945 Lake Placid Sectional Track Champions. During his medical training in New York City, in 1962, he was a fight doctor for the NYC golden glove tournaments.

Dr. Cutry is survived by: his wife of 64 years, Gilda Cutry RN of Wellsville; a son, Anthony F. (Cathy) Cutry, MD of Ballston Spa, NY; and several nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by: a brother, Anthony Cutry of Massena; and two sisters, Sophie Burnett of Cohoes, NY and Marian Mosher of Corona, CA. 

Friends are invited to call on Thursday, March 13, 2025, from 4 to 6 PM at the J.W. Embser Sons Funeral Home of Wellsville, 34 West State Street. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, March 14, 2025, at 11 AM in the Immaculate Conception Church of Wellsville, 36 Maple Avenue. Please consider memorial donations to a charity of your choice. To leave online condolences please visit www.embserfuneralhome.com .