Dr. Harry Mills Judge, known to his patients, friends and admirers as Doc, died on Thursday, Dec. 22, at Albany Medical Center Hospital. He was 82.

Harry was a third-generation summer resident of Martha's Vineyard. He spent childhood summers on Pequot avenue in Oak Bluffs and later in life resided on West Chop in Vineyard Haven. An early supporter of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, he loved the natural beauty and serenity of the Vineyard and spent much of his time here indulging in his passion for bird watching.

Harry Mills Judge was born in Albany, N.Y., on Nov. 10, 1923, to Cornelia Knower Mills and Dr. Harry Vincent Judge and lived in Albany his entire life.

He grew up on Providence street with a group of friends that has stayed together for more than 80 years. A graduate of the Albany Academy (1941) and Dartmouth College (1945), he received his medical degree from Albany Medical College in 1947 and took an internship in internal medicine at the hospital the following year. Harry completed his residency in ophthalmology at the Manhattan Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital in New York city and was a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Harry began his private medical practice with his father in 1953. He operated the practice for nearly 40 years.

After retiring he continued to work for the Veterans Administration Hospital and the New York State Police; as a professor at Albany Medical College, and with Dr. Aaron Kassoff at the Eye Center at Memorial Hospital.

He tirelessly contributed his time and energy to many organizations, foremost among them the Northeastern Association of the Blind at Albany (NABA). He served on the board of directors for NABA for many years and started NABA's Low Vision Clinic, which carries his name. In 1963, he was one of a group of Albany physicians who provided free medical care for five weeks to the residents of war-torn Algeria as part of a joint United Nations/CARE/Medico effort. This was a life-altering event for Harry and one of which he was justifiably proud.

Harry was also an amateur musician and played the drums from an early age with numerous local bands. His love of music, especially Dixieland jazz, drew him as recently as this year to Wilmington, N.C., for the Annual North Carolina Jazz Festival. In addition to drumming, he loved singing and joined the Mendelssohn Club of Albany in 1959.

He was the cousin of the late Prudence Wagnor Hotchkiss, Howard H. Mills and Marcy Mills Accola, all of Vineyard Haven.

Harry was a former member of the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club and was known as the fleet surgeon. In June 1951, Doc and his bride, Mary, stayed for a week-long honeymoon at the Chirgwin House in Edgartown.

His interest in ornithology took him, along with his son, Timothy, on a bird watching trip to the Galapagos Islands with several other Vineyarders. Doc was a member of many New York bird watching groups, including the Hudson Mohawk Bird Club.

Harry was a tireless storyteller and a master of limericks, both delicate and ribald. He possessed an insatiable curiosity about everything and never tired of investigating something new. Harry was a kind and gentle man who led by example. His compassion for others, his quiet commitment to service and his love of life are the gifts that he has left for his family and friends. Harry will be greatly missed and never forgotten.

Harry was the loving husband of his cherished wife of 54 years, Mary Walsh Judge. He was the beloved father of Elaine Gatti Procopio and her husband, Joseph, of Chapel Hill, N.C.; Diana Gatti Wong and her late husband, Daniel, of Rochester, N.Y.; Kathleen Anne Carlton and her husband, McDonald, of Albany; Mary Cornelia Judge of Feura Bush, N.Y.; Harry Mills Judge Jr. and his wife, Cheryl, of Albany; and Timothy Knower Judge and his wife, Paula, of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. His cousin John M. Mills of Vineyard Haven also survives him. He leaves behind 11 wonderful grandchildren: Joseph, Michael and Peter Procopio, Diane Procopio Todd; Elaine, Anne Marie, Daniel and Michael Wong; Ian McDonald Carlton, Samantha Emily DeCola Judge and Allison Erin DeCola Judge; and three great-grandchildren.

Those wishing to remember Dr. Judge in a special way may send a contribution to the Felix Neck Wildlife Trust, P.O. Box 2180, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.