Janusz Gregory Gorzynski, MD
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An obituary published this week offers a fuller picture of the life of Dr. Gregory (Janusz) Gorzynski, the 85-year-old man who was fatally struck while crossing Park Avenue at East 91st Street on December 1. Gorzynski lived only steps from the intersection where the collision occurred.
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Born in Poland in 1940 during the Nazi occupation, Gorzynski experienced both the violence of war and the deprivation of the post-war years. The obituary notes that these early hardships shaped his lifelong commitment to compassionate service. His parents, Stefan and Janina, were an engineer and a physician, and he grew up with an older brother, Wojciech.Gorzynski began his medical education at the Warsaw Medical School. After immigrating to the United States in 1967, he continued his studies at Baylor Medical School in Houston. He relocated to New York City in 1971, completing a medical internship at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. He later spent many years at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where he conducted research, published scholarly articles, and cared for cancer patients and their families. For several decades afterward, he maintained a private psychiatric practice on the Upper East Side.
In retirement, the obituary describes Gorzynski as deeply involved in volunteer work, including with the Monday Night Hospitality program at All Souls Church at 80th and Lexington Avenue. He supported a number of philanthropic and community organizations focused on helping those in need. He also remained devoted to classical music, theater, and the fine arts, and continued to educate himself in psychiatry, history, and politics.
Gorzynski’s life ended suddenly on December 1, when police say he was struck by a van while in the crosswalk near his home. He was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The driver remained at the scene, and the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad continues to investigate.
A memorial gathering will be held December 12 at Frank E. Campbell – The Funeral Chapel, 1076 Madison Avenue, with guests welcome beginning at 12:30 p.m. and a service at 1 p.m. A Christian Memorial Mass is planned for early spring 2026 at The Church of St. Thomas More at 65 East 89th Street. His ashes will be interred in the family grave in Warsaw.
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