A. Alden Carpenter, MD, a longtime resident of Hingham passed away on March 4th, 2023 at the age of 94 after a long illness. He was a loving husband to Linda for 68 extraordinary years and together they built a life they loved.
Al and his twin brother Richard were raised in Concord, NH along with two younger siblings Shepard and Ann. After graduating from the University of NH in 1950, Al went on to Dartmouth Medical School which at the time was a 2-year program. He completed his MD at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
He served for 4 years in the Navy Medical corps as a Lt. in Guantanamo Bay and Norfolk, VA. This was followed by a medical residency at the Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington, Vt. He went on to practice internal medicine in Beverly, MA 1960 – 1963. Along the way Al became interested in becoming a surgeon focusing on urology. He then trained at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, RI in urology.
Finally, Al moved his family to Hingham and began an immensely satisfying and challenging urological practice for 30 years at the South Shore Hospital Weymouth, MA.
Kindness was one of Al’s greatest professional strengths. He brought a calm and reassuring presence to his patients with his gentle bedside manner. Every Christmas day Al would visit his hospitalized patients and his family knew Christmas did not begin until he finished his rounds.
Professionally, Al was honored to be chosen to serve as president of the New England section of the Urological Association from 1985 – 1986. A few years later he became president of the Massachusetts Association of Practicing Urologists from 1988 – 1990. Several of his research papers were published in the New England Journal of Urology which received interest at that time from around the world.
As a life long learner Al was interested in various hobbies as well as engaging in the Hingham community. He shared his love for sailing, skiing, travel and hiking with Linda and his children. For decades Al enjoyed playing his trombone in the Hingham Civic Orchestra and the Satuit Band which always took part in the Hingham Fourth of July parade. Eventually he left his trombone behind and became Uncle Sam himself leading the parade for 13 years. One summer Al’s twin brother stood in as Uncle Sam when Al was ill and no one noticed the difference!
Al is survived by his loving wife Linda, his twin brother Dick (Meg) of Alexandria, VA, predeceased by his brother Shepard (Donna) of Fort Wayne, IN and his sister Ann Holbrook (Don) of Hanover , NH, three children Timothy Carpenter of Lakeville, MA, Daniel Carpenter (Whitney) of Hanson, MA, Beth MacDonald (Bruce) of Bend, OR; And, four grandchildren: Sarah, Amy (Ken), Brinton and Blake plus twin great granddaughters Elizabeth and Anna and many nieces and nephews.
Family and friends are invited to join a Celebration of Life on Saturday, April 29th at 1 pm held at the Hingham Congregational Church 366 Main St. Hingham, MA followed by a reception.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hingham Congregational Church or the Rolf C. Syvertsen, MD Memorial Endowment Fund at dartgo.org/syvertsen. Mail to:
The Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Office of Development (HB 7070)
1 Medical Center Drive
Lebanon, NH 03756-0001
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