Dr. Anthony F. Carozza, a retired general practitioner who held several state and city medical posts, died Wednesday at St. Agnes Hospital after a stroke. He was 87 and lived at the Charlestown Retirement Community.
In 1985, Dr. Carozza closed his practice, which he had maintained at his Govans home since 1937 and for a time before that in Little Italy.
In 1973, he became medical director at the Edgewood Nursing Home, now the Meridian Nursing Center-Homewood, and was medical director for several other homes in the Meridian chain before his retirement in 1988.
Born in Baltimore, he was a 1926 graduate of City College and completed his medical studies in 1932 at Georgetown University where he also did undergraduate work.
He was an intern at St. Joseph Hospital and later was a staff member there and at Church, North Charles General and Bon Secours hospitals.
He was named a coroner in Baltimore City in 1939, was a physician for the State Athletic Commission from 1941 until 1944 and then for three years for the State Insurance Department.
In 1947, he became a part-time physician for the accident clinic of the Division of Disability Compensation of the Baltimore comptroller's office, a post he held until 1952 when he began a 10-year tenure as its medical director.
He was a former grand commander of the Alcala Caravan of the Order of the Alhambra and a member of the Notre Dame Council of the Knights of Columbus, the Elks, the Baltimore City Medical Society, the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland and the American Medical Association.
He was fond of the Chesapeake Bay and was a member of the Baltimore Yacht Club, said his daughter, Edna "Lucy" Wase of Baltimore. She said that each November, he would set up a Christmas garden for patients, family members and friends.
A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. tomorrow at the Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, Baltimore and Ware avenues in Towson.
His first wife, the former Edna Marie Murphy, died in 1963.
He also is survived by his wife, the former Helen Gibson; a son, Anthony F. Carozza Jr. of Ocean City; a stepdaughter, Sharon Baldwin of Baltimore; a stepson, Anthony Serio of Newberry, S.C.; nine grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
