Norwich – An Air Force veteran, longtime obstetrician and 1968 Norwich Free Academy class president was named Monday the 2017 Norwich Native Son award recipient by the Norwich Rotary and the Woman's City Club.

Dr. Michael Morosky, 67, of Glastonbury, chief of obstetrics and gynecology for the past 13 years at Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs and head of the hospital's surgery department, will be the 50th award recipient. The Native Son/Daughter award recognizes a person who grew up in Norwich and excelled in a chosen field outside the local area.

As of Saturday, Morosky said, he has delivered 6,756 babies, including babies born to parents he delivered years earlier – but not yet a grandchild of one of his deliveries, he said.

“When I got started, I thought all obstetricians kept count,” Morosky said Monday. “I'll probably deliver over 7,500 in my career before I'm done. I'm not done. I'm kind of an old school obstetrician. We work hard. Many of us never retire, we just work until we can't do it anymore.”

James Daly, chairman of the Native Son/Daughter Award Committee, said the selection was difficult, but what tipped the scales for Morosky was the “feel good” nature of delivering babies.

“There's a lot of bad stuff going on in the world, and delivering babies is a good thing,” Daly said. “It just felt right.”

Morosky will be honored at a noon luncheon Wednesday, May 24 at the Holiday Inn in Norwich. Tickets are $15 per person. Registration is required. Go to www.norwichrotary.org to register or for more information contact Daly at (860) 889-8075 or at james.daly@nm.com.

Morosky, brothers Paul and Frank and sisters Carol and Tanya, children of parents Paul and Catherine Morosky, grew up at 372 Washington St. and attended Samuel Huntington Elementary School. Morosky's seventh grade class was the first to attend the new Kelly Junior High School.

At NFA, Morosky's Class of 1968 boasts another Native Son recipient, Morosky's high school best friend Pete Slosberg, founder of Pete's Wicked Ale. Best-selling author Wally Lamb also was a classmate.

Morosky attended the University of Connecticut undergraduate and medical school on an Air Force scholarship. He was accepted to Air Force flight school, but the Air Force had enough pilots so it sent him to medical school.

Morosky served in the Air Force for six years from 1976 to 1982 and did his medical residency in Biloxi, Miss. He practiced in Orlando, Fla. for a short time before moving back to Connecticut in 1984. He spent 20 years at Hartford Hospital, served as director of inpatient obstetrics and ran labor and delivery and postpartum units for nine years.

Morosky also was one founder of a 40-doctor multispecialty group at Hartford Hospital, which brought together doctors of numerous specialty fields. Still on the staff at Hartford Hospital, Morosky moved to Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs in 2003, where he became the first doctor in Connecticut to bring the multispecialty group to a second hospital.

“I love delivering babies and doing surgeries,” Morosky said. “I've told my kids, 'You find what you have a passion for and you can do it for the rest of your life.' And that's what I've done.”

Morosky and his wife, Judith, a pediatric nurse practitioner and personal trainer, have four children. Daughter Mikayla, 17, and son, Cameron, 16, live with them in Glastonbury.

Grown son Christopher, an OBGYN physician, teaches obstetrics at UConn and he and his wife, Jigisha live in Glastonbury. Daughter Elena Schreiber and her husband, Jonathan Schreiber, are psychologists and live in Mansfield.

Morosky said daughter Mikayla wants to go to medical school, while Cameron has other plans.

“Cam told me a couple years ago he just wants to be a catcher for the Boston Red Sox,” Morosky said. “He's a good catcher, and just might become a catcher for the Boston Red Sox.”

c.bessette@theday.com