Dr. Lyon Miller Greenberg

Dr. Lyon Miller Greenberg

SLINGERLANDS — Lyon Miller Greenberg, M.D. — a doctor, an Air Force major, and a gentleman farmer — created a sense of community by sharing his produce, equipment, and expertise with his neighbors.

Dr. Greenberg was fiercely loyal to his college, his profession, his religion, his friends — and most of all to his family.

After a long struggle with prostate cancer, he died peacefully at home on Friday, June 6, 2025, surrounded by his children and his wife of 61 years, Marcia. He was 92.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, on Jan. 7, 1933, to Naomi (née Miller) and Sahler Greenberg, he attended Baltimore City College for high school before graduating from Dartmouth College in 1954. He returned to Baltimore for medical school and earned his degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1958.

He started and completed his residency at McGill University’s Montreal Teaching Hospitals, with a brief detour as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force, retiring as a major in 1962.

“He loved his time in the Air Force and regularly shared memories of being stationed at Goose Bay Labrador and his many exploits,” his family wrote in a tribute. “Initially a resident in pediatrics, he had an opportunity to work in otolaryngology while at McGill and found that he enjoyed the field and the added opportunity to be a surgeon. He was able to combine these interests and specialized in pediatric otolaryngology for the rest of his career.

“In 1964, Lyon and Marcia moved to Albany, where he opened his medical practice. Over the next decades, he built the Capital Region Otolaryngology Head & Neck Group from a solo practice to the largest ear-nose-throat group in the tri-city area, with the support of many medical colleagues and staff.

“He served as a clinical professor of otolaryngology and pediatrics at Albany Medical College and was a founding member of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology. He was an active member of the Society for ENT Advances in Children, a diplomate of the American Board of Otolaryngology, and a specialty fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“While he always said he was a big fish in a small pond, he provided outstanding medical care to his patients for over 50 years. He dedicated significant time to service on the New York State Board for Professional Medical Conduct and as a long-serving board member of the Albany County Airport Authority. 

“Lyon was active in his local community serving as chairman of the Ethics Board of the Town of New Scotland and as president of the Dartmouth Club of Northeastern New York. Throughout his life, he was deeply committed to his Jewish faith and was a dedicated member of Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob.   

“Outside of his professional life, Lyon devoted much of his energy to growing and maintaining his beloved 300-acre farm along Krumkill Road. In his high school yearbook, he expressed his desire to be a gentleman farmer, and he fully achieved this goal.

“He loved the house he built, the crops he grew, and the family he raised there. He loved to ‘make hay while the sun shines’ and it was an ongoing joke that he would buy Marcia a tractor for her birthday. Most neighbors would agree that his snowplow, his generator, and his generosity with corn, tomatoes, and asparagus helped create a strong community that will endure.

“He taught his kids to skate on the pond below the house and loved playing pond hockey with them in his younger days. He was a committed lover of classical music and opera, spending many an afternoon in his prized seats at the Metropolitan Opera, and a devoted daily reader of The New York Times.

“Despite his deep connections in Albany, he was also rooted to Montreal through his family and considered it a second home. He enjoyed Dartmouth football games in the fall, Montreal Canadiens hockey games in the winter, and Baltimore Orioles and Colts/Ravens games throughout the year.”

****

Dr. Lyon Miller Greenberg is survived by his wife, Marcia (née MacDonald); his brother, Charles, of Toronto; and children, Josh (Kate Dulit) of Newton, Massachusetts, Adam (Kate Cohen) of New Scotland, Ben (Karen Griffin) of Voorheesville, Elizabeth (Rex Garniewicz) of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina; and grandchildren, Ezra and Naomi Dulit-Greenberg, Noah, Jesse, and Lena Cohen-Greenberg, Nathaniel Greenberg, and Boaz Garniewicz. 

Funeral services will be held Monday, June 9, at Levine Memorial Chapel at 649 Washington Ave. in Albany, at 11 a.m. ; it will be live-streamed at this link. His family will be greeting visitors starting at 10:30 a.m. Shiva will be held at the Greenberg residence on Monday, June 9, and Tuesday, June 10, from 5 to 8 p.m. 

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