Philip J. Doherty, who grew up in St. Peter’s Parish in Dorchester and went on to become a popular and highly respected cardiologist at Milton Hospital, died June 8 at his Milton home.

The eldest of eight children of Boston police officer John Joseph Doherty and his wife, Mary, he was afflicted with rheumatic fever that left him hospitalized for long stretches of his childhood. That seeming misfortune, however, planted in him a lifelong love of reading and mathematics and ultimately led him into medicine and cardiology.

After graduating from Boston Latin School and then Boston College, he attended Georgetown Medical School. He graduated cum laude in 1963, and as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Society. It was also at Georgetown that he met Patricia Fountain, a nursing student who would become his wife.

After completing his medical residency at Georgetown and his cardiology fellowship at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, he was invited to join the medical center’s full-time faculty as an assistant professor of cardiology.

In 1971, now with a family of four children, Dr. Doherty returned to Massachusetts to run the training program at Carney Hospital in Dorchester. He began his own practice at Milton Hospital in 1977.

Over the next 33 years, he served as chief of cardiology and then chief of medicine at Milton Hospital, and on the board of directors for the hospital. He was a frequent lecturer on issues related to cardiovascular health and received numerous awards for distinguished service, including the Lira Family Award for Physician Excellence in 2000 and the M. Vassar Pierce M.D. Award Honoring Physician Excellence in 2003.

Throughout his career, he was known and beloved by his many patients not only for the high quality of care he provided, but for his kindness and accessibility. Dr. Doherty considered his longtime staffers, Virginia Doyle, Donna Ducette and Natalie Cappelletti, to be extended family. He was also a favorite of the Milton Hospital nursing staff, with whom he worked very closely. He greatly valued and respected the nurses’ contributions to patient care.

He was an avid golfer and longtime member of the Wollaston Golf Club.

Despite his professional accomplishments, Dr. Doherty took the greatest pride in his own family.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Maureen E. Towle, of Hyde Park, Erin A. Daly, of Walpole, John P. Doherty, of Atlanta, and James P. Doherty, of Knoxville, Tenn.; his sisters and brothers, Mary Cormier, of Sandwich, Ellen Platt, of California, Sheila Scannell, of Walpole, Jean Neiswand, of New Jersey, Joseph Doherty, of Billerica, Daniel Doherty, of Arlington, and Thomas Doherty, of Pembroke; and 11 grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated in St. Elizabeth Church on June 13. Burial was in Milton Cemetery.

Donations may be made to the Milton Hospital Development Fund, Highland Street, Milton, MA 02186.