WORCESTER – Dr. Leonard J. Morse, who worked for the city of Worcester’s Division of Public Health since 1961 and served as the department’s commissioner from 2002 until 2010, when he retired at 81, died on Friday, Dec. 12.
He was 96.
Born in Worcester, Morse, “dedicated his life to the practice of medicine and the well-being of his community.” according to his obituary.
Morse served in the Army and was stationed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after attending American International College and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He was the first in his family to attend college.
Morse served from 1957 until 1959. After he was discharged from the Army, Morse and his wife, Maxine, moved back to Worcester to begin a medical practice in 1961.
“Worcester was incredibly important to him. He felt a deep love for and responsibly to the city,” Morse’s son, Andrew Morse, 63, said.
The most notable event of his career, according to Morse, was leading an investigation of a hepatitis A breakout that hit the College of the Holy Cross football team in 1969, forcing them to cancel the season after playing only two games.
Through the investigation led by Morse while he was serving as director of the infectious disease division at Saint Vincent Hospital, the breakout that plagued 90 of the team’s 97 players was traced back to a contaminated water faucet at one of the school’s practice fields.
“He was extremely involved in that case. It was incredibly important to him. My mother still has the faucet from Holy Cross from which the football players drank,” Andrew Morse said during a phone interview.
His recommendations from the investigation resulted in changes to public health laws related to drinking water.
Morse worked on four other epidemiologic investigations, all of which resulted in recommendations that changed national public health law.
During his time as public health commissioner, Morse played an “instrumental role” in the program known as Operation Yellow Box in 2007, which allows safe disposal of hypodermic needles and syringes in yellow boxes around the city.
“That was a deeply important moment in his career,” Andrew Morse said.
In 2015 the city dedicated the Morse Stroll walking path along the perimeter of Elm Park to the doctor, whom then-City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. called “the Michael Jordan of public health.”
A funeral for Morse will be held Tuesday, Dec. 30, at the Sharon Memorial Park Chapel. At 4 p.m. the same day, the family and friends will gather at The Mercantile in Worcester.
“He lived a great life,” Andrew Morse said.