Three Philadelphia men worked together to steal about $68 million worth of government-issued checks out of the mail and then reroute them to buyers they found online, according to federal prosecutors.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said in an indictment filed last month that Nyeem Anderson stole hundreds of Treasury Department checks between 2024 and 2026 — checks that were printed and to be mailed from a facility in Philadelphia, and that were intended for people expecting payments from the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, or other federal agencies.
Prosecutors did not specify how Anderson came to possess the checks, saying only that he received them “from an unknown source.” But once he had them, they said, he advertised them for resale online, including on a Telegram channel he oversaw, where he would post pictures of the checks and large piles of envelopes containing others.
Once he negotiated a sale price, prosecutors said, Anderson worked with Zaahir McGough and Qadir Pettus to mail the stolen checks to their chosen buyers, who would often send payments to accounts he had with systems such as Cash App or Zelle.
Prosecutors did not say how much the trio made from their scheme. But they said the checks were often sold for a fraction of their face value. Last May, for example, Anderson agreed to sell a check worth nearly $11,000 to an unidentified buyer for $299.
And sometimes Anderson would advertise multiple checks for sale at once, with the checks’ face values occasionally exceeding $200,000, prosecutors said.
Anderson’s attorney declined to comment Friday. Attempts to reach McGough’s lawyer were not immediately successful, and Pettus did not have an attorney listed in court records.
In a document filed this week, prosecutors said that when Anderson was arrested last week, he appeared to realize he was facing significant trouble.
Authorities found him holding $16,000 in stolen checks, prosecutors said. And as he was taken into custody, they said, he made a parting remark to onlookers.
“They finally got me,” Anderson said, according to prosecutors. “Tell everyone I am going away for a long time.”
A 70-year-old man was shot and killed in East Germantown on Friday morning, authorities said.
The shooting took place around 8:30 a.m. on the 5900 block of Ogontz Avenue, according to police.
Responding officers took the victim ― whom police did not identify ― to Jefferson Einstein Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
A man is in custody and is being questioned by investigators with the homicide unit, police said.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Philadelphia police tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).
Think you know your news? There’s only one way to find out. Welcome back to our weekly News Quiz — a quick way to see if your reading habits are sinking in and to put your local news knowledge to the test.
Question 1 of 10
Bryson Stott’s custom “Field of Dreams” cleats feature Phillies legends emerging from a cornfield. They were designed by NXT LVL Customs, based out of where in Pennsylvania?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Ryan Stevens and his company, NXT LVL Customs, are based out of Downington. Stevens collaborated with a Bucks County illustrator to do the portrait work on the shoes.
Question 2 of 10
Philadelphia is the latest locale for vigilante Jack Reacher's shadowy dealings in season four of Reacher, streaming now on Amazon Video. The show, which stars actor Alan Ritchson as the hulking retired Army investigator, was spotted filming around town last year. What location has NOT been spotted in a season four episode?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Parc briefly plays host to Reacher, Lila Hoth (Agnez Mo), and Jacob Merrick (Christopher Rodriguez-Marquette) as the trio settles in at an outdoor table to evade police. But they haven’t been spotted at a cheesesteak spot, like Pat’s, so far.
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Question 3 of 10
What did 12-year-old Sam Okyere choose for his Make-A-Wish “Perfect Day?”
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Sam, who has sickle cell disease, wanted to help the homeless as his Make-A-Wish gift. The organization hosted a carnival-style extravaganza for the West Philly homeless shelter, Families Forward Philadelphia.
Question 4 of 10
A new LeBron James mural takes inspiration from an iconic photo from the basketball player’s Miami Heat days — where he and Dwyane Wade nailed an alley-oop. In the Chinatown mural, however, James is seen wearing a Sixers uniform and Wade is swapped out for this figure:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
In the mural, Wade is swapped for a bronze Billy Penn, a nod to the statue atop City Hall. Artist Chenlin Cai painted the mural.
Question 5 of 10
A corner store in Point Breeze, on the corner of 17th and Wharton Streets, is being praised for having the best:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The spot is praised for its fried chicken sandwich, which costs $9 and consists of two chicken breast cutlets, thickly breaded with a super crunchy exterior. Ordering it “with everything” means that it comes with pickles, mayo, onion, tomato, and lettuce; laid on two slices of potato bread.
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This sweet treat first originated in Philadelphia, according to a 19th-century cookbook:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The first known American cookbook author, Amelia Simmons, included a “light cake to bake in small cups” in her 1796 American Cookery. Another book from 1828 was the first to call the petite cake a cupcake. Not only is her recipe titled “cup cake,” but she also includes specific instructions to bake in “small tins.” Cupcake history thus begins here, in this printed record of the name and form recognized today.
Question 7 of 10
As its permit nears expiration, this attraction by City Hall is looking to relocate soon:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
The Portal — the video installation that accesses live feeds to other countries — and its permit is set to expire on Oct. 31. Portals.org is looking for a sponsor that can help house and relocate it. If it doesn’t find one in time, officials say the exhibit will move on.
Question 8 of 10
Which fruit flavor is trending across all Philly beverage menus — from bars to cafes — according to food reporter Kiki Aranita?
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
Banana’s popularity is suddenly booming. They’re trending everywhere, but especially at cocktail bars and cafes, which use fresh bananas, banana liqueur, banana extract, and even banana peel. Some are calling it "the next pumpkin spice."
Question 9 of 10
The alternative rock band, Dogstar, toured through the Philly region this week. The band features this famous actor on bass:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
“We’re coming to Philly! We’re gonna rock!” said actor and Dogstar bassist Keanu Reeves in an interview with music critic Dan DeLuca. The band discussed the actor’s winding career and how he came back around to playing bass.
Question 10 of 10
A Philly entrepreneur allegedly scammed Eagles players and people in multiple states with:
CorrectIncorrect. XX% of other readers got this question right.
A recent investigation claimed that Mohamed Coulibaly defrauded three former NFL players out of $1 million in an e-commerce scheme involving fake Shopify stores.
Your Results
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The average reader scored XX out of 10
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The gunfire that killed a North Philadelphia woman and wounded her husband as the couple sat on their porch Sunday night may have been an act of retaliation for an earlier homicide, law enforcement sources said.
Shariff Perry, who police say killed Michelle Wilson, 61, and shot her 67-year-old husband, is the brother of a man authorities say was killed by the couple’s son, Evans, in 2022, according to the sources.
Authorities have not publicly disclosed a motive for the crime, but sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said retribution was the likely cause.
Surveillance video obtained from a business near Wilson’s home showed a man wearing a surgical mask and a hat approach the couple’s front porch, pull out a handgun, and open fire just before midnight. Wilson was pronounced dead moments later. Her husband survived.
On Wednesday, police identified Perry, 35, as the suspected shooter. He remained at large Thursday.
Reached by phone, Wilson’s husband tearfully declined to be interviewed, as did his daughter.
The Wilsons’ son, Evans, is one of three people charged in the death of James Dunbar, 20, who was shot in the head on the 2800 block of North Taylor Street, less than a mile from where the Wilsons were shot, sources said.
Another man was also shot, but survived, police said.
Witnesses told detectives at the time that they heard a barrage of gunshots, then saw two armed men fleeing in a Hyundai Sonata. Detectives recovered 17 bullet casings from the scene, authorities said.
Wilson and two teenagers were charged with murder and related crimes, court records show. Wilson has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
Wilson’s attorney, David Mischak, did not return a phone call on Thursday.
Dunbar’s death came during a wave of crime in the city following the pandemic.
Michelle Wilson’s killing was one of six homicides in Philadelphia between Friday morning and Sunday night, a burst of bloodshed in what has otherwise been one of the city’s least violent years in decades.
Hours before her death, Wilson’s family had gathered for a Sunday afternoon barbecue, with children and relatives on the porch, a neighbor said. The neighbor — who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation — said the couple were “quiet” and “friendly.”
Police have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to Perry’s arrest and conviction and have asked anyone with information to contact the department’s homicide unit at 215-686-3334 or its tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477).
Staff writer Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.
Joy Huertas, 33, woke up Monday morning in her Philadelphia home to multiple messages in her family’s WhatsApp group: Her parents were nowhere to be found.
A 7.4-magnitude earthquake had struck her hometown of Pereira, Colombia, as well as other areas of the country, leaving more than 200 people dead and thousands missing.
Huertas knew her father had a doctor’s appointment in the center of the city that morning before heading to the airport for a flight to Bogota.
A quick look on social media showed her that Pereira’s airport had a half-collapsed roof and that the building in which the doctor worked had been reduced to rubble.
“I started to panic,” Huertas said.
Volunteers and rescue workers search for survivors at the site of a collapsed building, one of several destroyed during Monday’s 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Pereira, Colombia, on Tuesday.JUAN ARREDONDO
An hour later, she managed to get hold of her brother. Her parents were safe.
Fortunately, her father’s doctor had rescheduled his appointment to an earlier time, before the earthquake. But, with the power out and the internet connection spotty, she had not been able to contact any family members until well past noon.
“My mom said that it felt like the land had turned into the sea, and that it went on for so long, everything around them was shaking,” Huertas said, holding back tears. “She said everyone was so scared to go back inside.”
By Tuesday, conditions had not improved. The aftershocks had Huertas’ Pereira neighbors dragging mattresses out and sleeping in front of their homes.
People camp out in a park on Wednesday, after after an earthquake damaged their homes.Fernando Vergara
“Mom said it feels like being back in the pandemic because the lines to buy supplies are so long, and when your turn comes mostly everything is gone,” Huertas said. “They have no water, people are running out of food, and the trucks with supplies can’t access the area to put food back in the grocery stores.”
Still with a heavy heart, Huertas found solace in a Wednesday night vigil organized by Acción Colombia. The Philly community nonprofit provides resources, coordinates events, and serves as a cultural bridge for the more than 8,000 Colombian nationals living in Philadelphia, as well as folks in New Jersey and Delaware.
Dozens of people, many with Colombian flags, gathered outside City Hall to hold one another through the sense of loss. Through live music and a moment of silence to pay respect to the dead, one thing was clear: The community wanted to help.
“We’ve come to give Colombia a hug and show our solidarity so that people find the strength to rebuild after such a catastrophic event,” said Leity Rodriguez Largo, director of Acción Colombia.
Moved by how many people in Philadelphia reached out to the group looking to help people back home, Acción Colombia began organizing to send resources to the earthquake-affected areas.
“Philadelphians have been wonderful. They need to know that every ounce of help counts and is appreciated,” Rodriguez Largo said.
On Saturday and Sunday, Acción Colombia will be holding multiple events in and around Philly to collect donations. Here is how to help:
Resources needed
Before donating, make sure perishableitems have not expired and other itemshave not been opened.
Food: Canned goods such as chicken, tuna, sardines, beans, vegetables, and fruit. Also: rice, cereal, pet food, and powdered hydration drinks.
Hygiene and baby products: Diapers (for all ages), baby wipes, formula, feminine hygiene products, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and deodorant.
Emergency equipment: First aid supplies, flashlights, batteries, work gloves, helmets, and face masks.
Packing tools: Scissors, packing tape, and medium boxes.
What not to bring
According to Rodriguez Largo, water bottles are not being accepted because they are hard to transport and can be found in areas not affected by the earthquake. Clothing items will not be accepted, either.
Where to donate in Philadelphia
Acción Colombia will be at these locations both Saturday and Sunday:
3 to 8 p.m.: Lighthouse Field/Oblea Fusion, 101 E. Erie Ave., North Philadelphia.
Where to donate outside Philadelphia
Donations will be collected in Malvern on Saturday, between noon and 8 p.m., near Mi Pais restaurant, 477 Lancaster Ave.
How to volunteer
Philadelphians who would like to volunteer to pack and classify the items are welcome to text Acción Colombia at 267-423-9020, Rodriguez Largo said.
For monetary donations
Rodriguez Largo recommends directly supporting groups already on the ground in Colombia. She advises monetary donations go to Manos Visibles, a nongovernmental organization helping people in the most affected areas.
A firefighter working on rescue efforts holds a Colombian flag amid the rubble on Thursday.Ivan Valencia
The Philadelphia Parking Authority is expanding tech-enforced smart loading zones in Center City beginning Monday, citing reduced curb congestion and faster travel on two corridors over the last 15 months.
Average traffic speeds are up 32% compared to historical averages on Chestnut Street and 28% on Walnut Street since the PPA installed the loading zones in May last year, according to a study by INRIX, the transportation analytics firm.
During the middle of the day, that means vehicles are moving at around 10 mph, on average, vs. 7 mph before.
High-res cameras track how long a delivery truck or a car stays in the zone, andsoftware calculates a 10-cent-per-minute fee. That is then charged to thedriver’s wallet on the CurbPass app. If needed, license plate pictures are used as evidence to issue $51 tickets for staying longer than the one-hour limit.
“Really, the goal is ensuring curb space is available for the folks who need it most … and improving traffic flow through some of the most congested parts of the city,” said Gabe Roberts, interim executive director of the PPA.
Turnover of vehicles is the key. It is a kind of EZ-Pass for curbs.
The Philadelphia Parking Authority is adding 30 new smart loading zones in Center City, for a total of 52. Officials say the first set improved traffic flow.Philadelphia Parking Authority
On Monday, the loading zones will begin operating on 30 blocks across Center City, PPA says. No tickets will be issued in the new spaces during a monthlong warning period.
Darting delivery vehicles from DoorDash, Amazon, FedEx, UPS, and the like — along with Uber, Lyft, and regular drivers — have proliferated beyond the supply of curb space in Philadelphia and other cities in recent years, slowing through traffic to a crawl.
Philadelphia has had business and passenger loading zones for years, but they had been overflowing, forcing some delivery trucks to double park in the traffic lane.
Existing smart loading zones have effectively added curb space for 730 additional vehicles a day because vehicles are moving in and out instead of sitting for a long time, PPA says.
PPA says it has seen a 97% increase in commercial freight and delivery trucks using the loading zones, cutting down on double parking that blocks traffic.
The technology also captures plenty of vehicles double-parking in the zones, which are marked by purple, red, and white signs. That results ina $76 e-ticket.
“Enforcement is much more exact and consistent,” Roberts said. “It develops an expectation” that can change behavior, he said.
Indeed, PPA says about 78% of violators have received only one citation.
CurbPass accounts are not limited to commercial vehicles. Anybody can sign up, including rideshare drivers. The first three minutes are free, so a driver can pull in and create an account on the spot from a QR code before the toll starts.
Roberts stressed cameras only capture data necessary for enforcement and, in the case of loading zones, billing: license plate, time in, time out, and location.
“Our goal is to monitor the vehicle, not the person,” he said.
The chief content officer at Forbes magazine was fired from his top editorial position after the company learned he had received around $6 million as an undisclosed payment from a man that does business with the publication, the New York Times reported Wednesday.
Randall Lane was fired last month, the Times reported.
In an unrelated connection to Philadelphia, Lane was the cowriter of a musical, The Sound of America, that debuted this summer at FringeArts.
The Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that Lane was paid by RJ Shook, the founder of Shook Research, which has partnered with the magazine for about a decade to publish rankings of wealth advisers.
Shook made the payment after he sold a majority stake in Shook Research to a private equity firm last August, the Times reported.
To avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, newsrooms often prohibit payments from sources or other people who have a financial incentive to curry favor with a journalist.
The Times said it was unclear why Shook paid Lane, though at least one unnamed source said Lane considered the money as a gift for advice he had provided to Shook over the years.
The 58-year-old Lane, in a statement to the Times, said: “I made a mistake, and I take responsibility for it.”
He added: “I should have disclosed the gift, and failing to was a serious error in judgment. I deeply regret that and I lost the job and team I love because of it. None of this changes how I feel about Forbes and the amazing people there.”
A Forbes spokesperson confirmed to the Times that Lane was no longer with the magazine, but declined to talk about the payment. The Times reported that Shook did not respond to requests for comment.
Philadelphia police now believe at least two women were killed inside the decrepit Olney home at the center of a sprawling missing persons investigation, officials said Wednesday — a stunning breakthrough in a probe that began nearly two months ago after a chance encounter near Independence Mall.
Inspector Raymond Evers said homicide detectives had recovered photos and videos on hard drives inside the home that appeared to show the deaths of two women who had been reported missing — neither of whom had been previously linked to the case.
Evers identified the women as Maribel Fresses, who was 27 when she was reported missing in February 2018, and Gabrielle Amarando, who went missing in September 2012 at the age of 22.
The announcement at a Wednesday news conference was the latest and most striking development in a case that has drawn national attention since police launched an investigation in June into the disappearances of two other women last seen at the home of Eugene Albert Horsch, 44, and his late father, Raymond “R.C.” Horsch.
Eugene Albert Horsch, 44, of Philadelphia.Courtesy of Philadelphia police
Evers said the two-month search of the home, on the 400 block of West Chew Avenue, involved over 95 search warrants and surfaced an “astonishing” array of evidence: five urns of cremated remains, more than 20 containers full of unknown chemicals and oily substances, and 50 hard drives and other electronic devices holding more than 600,000 images, 70,000 videos, and 10,000 pages of writings and drawings.
Inside one of those hard drives, Evers said, detectives found images and videos that appeared to show Fresses and Amarando alive inside the house — followed by “graphic and dark” depictions of what appeared to be their dead bodies.
But the investigation is complicated, he said, because police have not recovered any human remains inside the home. And forensic tests of the substances in the basement, and of what initially appeared to be blood inside the house, did not test positive for human blood or DNA, law enforcement sources have said.
Without the bodies, he said, the Philadelphia Office of the Medical Examiner cannot officially declare the women dead. He said the case would likely have to go through Orphans’ Court.
Philadelphia Police Inspector Raymond Evers gives an update on the investigation into the house on Chew Avenue.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer
Still, he said, the medical examiner’s office said that “if the images and the video are real and not altered in any way,” the women are dead.
Police are still working to determine when the women died.
Eugene Horsch has not been charged with any crimes connected to the women’s deaths or disappearances. Evers declined to say whether investigators believed he — or his father, a creator of erotic and pornographic art — may have been involved.
“Eugene lived there. He lived there for a long time. His dad lived there for a long time,” Evers said when asked about their possible connection to the deaths.
He said investigators had reviewed only about 5% of the digital materials so far and had hundreds of thousands more to go through.
A lawyer for Eugene Horsch did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
The missing women
Police said they notified the families of Fresses and Amarando on Wednesday morning.
Ricardo Fresses, 61, said that, in his gut, he had known his daughter, Maribel, or “Bella,” was dead.
“She called me every day. Absolutely every day she called me, and one day she stopped calling me,” he said. “And as the years went by I knew she was gone.“
His daughter grew up in Holland, Bucks County, he said, and started using drugs in high school.
“She was a beautiful girl, a loving girl, always daddy’s girl,” he said, even as she slipped into opioid addiction.
He last saw her on June 19, 2018. They met for a slice of pizza in Kensington, and he gave her $50. He never heard from her again. He reported her missing shortly after.
“It’s a horrible situation that my family has to go through,” he said about what police found inside the hard drive.
Amarando’s family said the news followed 14 years of hope that she might finally turn up.
”I’m just so devastated. This brings some closure, but it still hurts,” said Lora Timmons, Amarando’s stepmother. “She was a sweet little girl. She was always just such fun to be with. She and her father were best friends.”
Timmons said Amarando, who grew up in Doylestown, had been interested in modeling from a young age but “always found the wrong crowd.” She had struggled with addiction since she was a teen, her stepmother said.
Amarando would often come to visit Timmons, who lives in North Carolina, and her sisters, but they lost contact in September 2012.
”She just went away,“ she said. “We searched here and there but we never found her. … We always thought she was just off doing her drug thing, living her life.”
Timmons had not heard of the Horsches until Wednesday.
”I always hoped I’d see her again,” she said. “I didn’t want to think the worst.”
Police declined to say how the women might have known Raymond or Eugene Horsch.
For decades before his death, Raymond Horsch offered drugs, cash, and shelter to women struggling with addiction, in exchange for nude photo and video shoots. Horsch’s visual works featured graphic violence — and sometimes death scenes. He also penned semi-autobiographical novels featuring serial killers who preyed on women in addiction.
Raymond “R.C.” Horsch in character for a film role, 2014.S. E. Stokowski / Wikimedia
How the case began
Wednesday’s developments came nearly two months after police began combing through the Horsch home in connection with at least two other missing women, following a chance encounter near Independence Mall.
On June 19, a U.S. park ranger saw Eugene Horsch and a woman acting suspiciously inside his parked BMW. After searching the car, the officer found drugs, guns, and various other weapons, along with a counterfeit U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration badge.
The woman with Horsch was also found with a fake ID in the name of Blair Tonzelli, a woman who was reported missing in 2023 and last seen at Horsch’s Olney home.
That also renewed suspicions about Horsch’s father, who died in May 2025. Raymond Horsch’s ex-wife, Amy McHale, was reported missing in 2016 and last heard from at the Chew Avenue house.
A witness later told police that Tonzelli was a home healthcare aide who had worked for Horsch’s father, and that she believed Tonzelli and Eugene Horsch had a disagreement over money, according to law enforcement sources.
Investigators interviewed people who knew Horsch and were told that, in the past, he had bragged about killing people and melting their bodies with chemicals in his basement, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Horsch, they said, said he could make a body so small it “could be flushed down a toilet.”
Workers and police investigators remove pipes and debris at the entrance to the home of Eugene Albert Horsch on West Chew Avenue in the Olney section of Philadelphia as investigators search for possible evidence on July 22.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Since the June arrest, Horsch has remained in federal custody on charges related to illegal gun possession. Police continued to search the Olney home in hopes of learning the whereabouts of Tonzelli and McHale.
They went so far as to excavate the home’s yard and remove a pipe to test for DNA.
FBI agents, meanwhile, continued examining hundreds of pages of text messages, handwritten and typed documents, CDs, and videos — including many of Raymond Horsch’s artistic works.
It was in there, police said, that there was evidence of Fresses’ and Amarando’s deaths.
Fresses’ father said the discovery confirmed his worst fears. For months, years even, he said, he would wake up in the middle of the night and drive through Kensington. He would look into the faces of the women on the streets, hoping he would see his Bella.
“But I was just hurting myself because I knew she was gone,” he said. “I knew in my heart that my daughter was not around anymore.“
Philadelphia police are searching for a man they say walked up to a couple sitting on a porch and opened fire late Sunday night, killing the woman and injuring the man before fleeing.
Shariff Perry, 35, is charged in an arrest warrant with murder, possession of an illegal firearm, and related crimes in the killing of Michelle Wilson, 61, and the shooting of her 67-year-old husband.
Surveillance video from a business on Sunday captured a man wearing a hat and surgical mask — who police now say is Perry — walking to Wilson’s home in the 2800 block of North 24th Street in North Philadelphia. There, the video showed, the man pulled out a gun and fired repeatedly.
Wilson was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital shortly after the 11:49 p.m. shooting. Her husband was also taken to the hospital, where, police said, he was stable.
Police described Perry as a male, 5 feet, 8 inches tall, and weighing 170 pounds. Anyone with information about Perry or the killing is asked to contact the department’s homicide unit at 215-686-3334 or its tip line at 215-686-TIPS (8477). A $20,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to Perry’s arrest and conviction, police said.
Staff writer Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.
Albert James Mamary, 59, of Wynnewood, attending physician and professor of thoracic medicine and surgery at Temple University, researcher, writer, mentor, artist, outdoorsman, craftsman, and amateur bicycling champion, died Thursday, July 9, of cholangiocarcinoma at Temple University Hospital.
A 1999 graduate of Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Dr. Mamary spent his career at Temple and affiliated hospitals. He was an expert in pulmonary disease, transplants, and sleep disorders at the Temple Lung Center, and became program director of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at Temple Hospital in 2006.
He earned a master’s degree in anthropology at the College of William and Mary in Virginia and his premedical school credits at the University of Pennsylvania. In a tribute, his family said: “His education in both medicine and anthropology reflected a lifelong belief that caring for a patient required understanding not only the disease but the whole person.”
Over more than three decades at Temple — as a student, resident, fellow, professor, and physician — Dr. Mamary treated thousands of patients, mentored hundreds of students and doctors, lectured in classrooms and at seminars, and wrote more than 60 scientific papers and textbook chapters. He was named a top doctor by Philadelphia Magazine several times and was featured in The Inquirer and on 6abc TV for his lead role in a successful double-lung transplant in 2015.
“It’s been 120 to 145 patients, individual patients that we’ve been able to help every year,” Dr. Mamary told CBS News in 2024. “That’s really the aim here, is to add years of life to patients who otherwise wouldn’t have that opportunity.”
Colleagues called Dr. Mamary a “physician’s physician” and noted his “amazing intelligence and clinical acumen” in tributes. Gerard J. Criner, chair of Temple’s Department of Thoracic Medicine and Surgery, said: “His patients loved him not only for his clinical skills but also for the warmth, compassion, and humanity he brought to every encounter.”
A former patient said online: “He was a calm in the storm of my end stage disease. … The world has lost a hero.”
A former student said: “His kindness, thorough and balanced approach to medicine, and quiet, thoughtful approach to even the most stressful emergencies reminded me of a Jedi master.”
Dr. Mamary and his wife, CeilaSue, married in 1996.Courtesy of the family
Away from the hospital, Dr. Mamary liked to bike, hike, and camp. He built his own 18-foot mahogany canoe, walked the entire 272-mile Long Trail in Vermont, and won masters bicycling championship races.
He also painted and sculpted, and earned a bachelor’s degree in art and psychology at Haverford College. He and his wife, CeliaSue, initiated the Shortridge Memorial Park Arboretum in Wynnewood and earned a 2024 community service award from Narberth and Lower Merion officials.
“James brought wisdom, kindness, curiosity, and genuine joy to every moment,” his wife said.
Albert James Mamary was born June 12, 1967, in Hempstead, N.Y. He grew up in Binghamton, N.Y., became an Eagle Scout, and was a wilderness river guide for the Boy Scouts in Maine during his college years.
Dr. Mamary was an avid bicyclist and won masters championship races. Courtesy of the family
He met CeliaSue Jaffe in class at Haverford, and they married in 1996 and had daughters HannahRose and LilyRuth. They lived in East Falls and Wynnewood, and he rode his bike from home to Penn and then Temple as often as he could.
Dr. Mamary enjoyed traveling, baking, cooking, and gardening. “His specialty is fruits and vegetables, and I grow the flowers,” his wife said.
He followed the Phillies, rescued cats and dogs, and doted on his daughters. Everybody said he was funny and silly.
“He was curious and always learning or doing something new,” his daughter LilyRuth said. “He took joy in simple things.” His daughter HannahRose said: “Even if he wasn’t my dad I would want him as a friend because he was so interesting and so easy to talk to.”
Dr. Mamary was a wilderness river guide for the Boy Scouts in Maine during his college years.Courtesy of the family
Dr. Mamary was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, bile duct cancer, in 2020 and treated by longtime colleagues and friends at Temple, some of whom he had mentored. “It was a profound reflection of the life he lived,” his family said, “that so many of those he had taught ultimately became his caregivers.”
His wife said: “He was a very vibrant and adventurous person but so thoughtful, steady, and reliable. James was incredible.”
