Norman Kattwinkel

Norman Kattwinkel, age 88, of Natick, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully on Thursday, April 3, 2025.  He lived a rich and exemplary life.  All who knew him will remember Norman as a dedicated family man, an accomplished rheumatologist, and a steadfast adherent to his deeply felt spiritual and moral beliefs.

Norman was born on October 4, 1936, in Newton, Massachusetts. His mother, Dorothy Lucile (Fish) Kattwinkel, was a strong and independent spirit who loved the peace and serenity of the Fort Hill area of the Cape Cod National Seashore in Eastham, where she lived most of her adult life. His father, Egon Emil Kattwinkel, was a disciplined and resolutely principled physician who was widely admired for his vision, courage and integrity.

Norman and his siblings grew up in a Newton home built and owned by the son of William Lloyd Garrison, the Civil War era abolitionist. As a teenager at Newton North High School, Norman excelled as a student, a middle-distance runner, and a baritone in the “Newtones.” After graduating in 1954, he went on to Harvard College, where he gravitated to the rigors of the pre-medical track. In 1960, while pursuing his medical degree at the Tufts University School of Medicine, he spent a summer on a professor-led expedition in the upper Amazon basin, wielding a machete in treetops to collect botanical specimens for pharmaceutical research. Thus began a medical career that would go on to span forty-two years.

In 1963, after a medical internship at the Jersey City Medical Center outside New York City, Norman enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He proudly served his country as the sole medical officer for 12,000 sailors on a squadron of destroyers, with ports in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. His peacetime tour of duty was followed by residencies at the Boston City Hospital and the Lahey Clinic in Boston, where he began a career-long dedication to his chosen specialty of rheumatology. During Norman’s thirty-three years at the Lahey Clinic, he was elected President of the Medical Staff, served on the Board of Governors, and spent thirteen years as Chairman of the Department of Rheumatology. Norman had a long and very personal loyalty to the Lahey Clinic, the profession of medicine, and most importantly his many patients over the years. Upon his retirement in 2004, he reflected on the “extraordinary journey” of his professional life with gratitude and humility: “Nurses, technicians, physicians and patients comprise an extraordinary family with common goals—the betterment of mankind and the relief of suffering.”

A New Englander all his life, Norman embraced the beauty and luxury of Cape Cod summers, the natural splendor of the autumn foliage, the comforts of a wood stove in the depth of winter, and the regenerative power of a vegetable garden during the long-awaited spring. A lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox, Norman cherished his early memories of watching Ted Williams’ pregame batting practice at Fenway Park. He was an avid reader, counting David McCullough, C.S. Lewis and Doris Kearns Goodwin among his favorites. The poetry of Robert Frost spoke to his soul, while John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage served as an ethical touchstone and inspiration. He loved classical music. The memory of a late afternoon performance of Brahms’ Third Symphony, in 1963 Naples during shore leave from the Navy, stayed with him his whole life.

Norman had two elder sisters, Susan and Ellen, and a younger brother, John. Susan died at age eleven of congenital heart disease. Ellen Wilson, born in 1933, was a gifted writer, a mother of three, and a beloved teacher of creative writing at Los Gatos High School in Northern California. John Kattwinkel, born in 1941, also a physician, is Research Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the University of Virginia and father of two, and is widely recognized for his contributions to the field of neonatology.

Norman is survived by his beloved wife of 59 years, Katherine (Shotwell) Kattwinkel. He was a loving father to Amy Nordstrom and her husband Peter, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Eric Kattwinkel and his wife Natalie, of Carlisle, Massachusetts; and Julia Farmer and her husband Jeff, of Medfield, Massachusetts. He was the cherished grandfather of Elizabeth and Michael Nordstrom, Dylan and Storey Kattwinkel, and Kate, Spencer, and Madison Farmer.

Donations in Norman’s memory may be made to Beth Israel Lahey Health, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Office of Philanthropy, 529 Main St., 4th Floor, Charlestown, MA 02129 or Donate | Lahey Hospital & Medical Center

A private Celebration of Life is being planned for a later date.

For online guestbook please visit www.everettfuneral.com

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