Dr. Chester B. Rosoff, 84, a retired surgeon at the Beth Israel Hospital and associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, died on Friday, Nov. 16 from complications from leukemia. He was a resident of Wellesley and the Vineyard.

Dr. Rosoff was born in New Haven, Conn., and attended Amherst College, where he was a member of the class of ’43, and Harvard Medical School, where he was a member of the class of ’46.

His career as a doctor was of enormous importance to him. He had had polio when he was a child, and out of this experience grew his desire to be a physician.

Following World War II, he served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army, and was assigned to Munich as head of the surgical unit.

He was chief surgical resident at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital and taught and mentored surgical residents for more than 30 years at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. From 1970 through 1977, Dr. Rosoff was president of the New England Cancer Society.

He published research in a number of areas concerning factors that affect surgical outcomes, ranging from blood clotting after surgical procedures to the impact of a shorter post-surgical hospital stay on recovery.

He also thought a great deal about how to extend medicine’s reach into the community at large. He was involved in the early development of what was to become the Harvard Community Health Plan, and worked there for many years. Dr. Rosoff had the highest standards of ethics and clinical practice, and conveyed these to his students, colleagues, and patients alike. He valued education highly, and was a lifelong participant in the educational process as student, teacher, father and benefactor.

Survivors include his wife, Dr. Dorothy Crawford; his children, Ann Rosoff and Elizabeth Elowe, both of Andover, and Meg Rosoff of London, England; his grandchildren, Benjamin, Joshua, Jordan, Ethan, Andrew and Gloria; and his sister, Gladys Catterton of North Andover. A daughter, Deborah L. Rosoff, predeceased him.

Remembrances may be made to the Lymphoma Fund, Dr. David C. Fisher, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney street, Boston, MA 02215.