SCARBOROUGH — Dr. Joseph T. DeGrinney II, 74, of Pine Point and Port Charlotte, Florida, died Dec. 1, at the Gosnell Memorial Hospice House after a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

DeGrinney was born April 3, 1941, in Brighton, Massachusetts, and grew up in Arlington, Massachusetts. He graduated from Saint Mary’s High School in 1959 and Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont, in 1963. DeGrinney earned his medical degree at the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark, New Jersey, in 1967.

He and his wife, Patricia C. Petrella, moved to Portland in 1967, when DeGrinney completed his residency at Maine Medical Center.

DeGrinney served as a doctor in the Air Force; during his service he was stationed at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone. He attained the rank of major before leaving active duty in 1972. The family then settled in Livermore Falls, where DeGrinney established a medical practice with his longtime colleague and partner, Dr. Will Eastman. DeGrinney practiced family medicine in the Jay/Livermore Falls area for many years.

After their children went on to college, the couple lived for several years in Massachusetts, where DeGrinney practiced medicine at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro and Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

In 1992, the DeGrinneys moved back to Maine and began living year-round at Pine Point. DeGrinney continued to practice family medicine at Mercy Hospital in Portland until he retired in 2003, and he and his wife began to spend winters in Port Charlotte. After his wife’s death in 2009, DeGrinney married Judith E. Eisel on May 28, 2011, and the couple split their time between Florida and Maine. 

DeGrinney was an avid outdoorsman who loved to fish and spend time at his camp in Fayette, as well as a beach house in Pine Point.

He was a caring physician, a loving husband and father, a faithful Catholic and a steadfast friend. He impacted the lives of many people in many ways and will be greatly missed.

DeGrinney was also predeceased by his parents, Joseph and Mary Lilian (York) DeGrinney.

Besides his wife, he is survived by a sister, Roberta D. Cernota, of Nashua, New Hampshire; two sons, Joseph Timothy DeGrinney III and John Paul DeGrinney, both of Scarborough; a daughter, Carolyn DeGrinney Mitchell, of Scarborough; eight grandchildren, Joseph Timothy “J.T.” DeGrinney IV, Nicholas DeGrinney, Robert Mitchell, Maureen DeGrinney, Meghan DeGrinney, George Mitchell, Grace DeGrinney and Dominic DeGrinney; two stepchildren, Chris Eisel, of Torrington, California and Mark Eisel, of Bethesda, Maryland; and three stepgrandchildren, Lauren Eisel, Ryan Eisel and Sarah Eisel.

Visiting hours were held Dec. 4, at Conroy-Tully Crawford Funeral Home in Portland, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Maximilian Kolbe in Scarborough. Interment was at Calvary Cemetery in South Portland.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, 11 Hunnewell Rd., Scarborough, ME 04074 or The Maine Right to Life Committee, P.O. Box 257, Auburn, ME 04212.

DeGrinney