By HOLCOMB B. NOBLE

Published: June 24, 2006 in the New York Times

Dr. Heinz L. Ansbacher, whose encounters with the psychologist Alfred Adler in 1930, first in a lecture hall and then in a therapy session, led to a lifetime of scholarship devoted to his work, died Thursday at his home in Burlington , Vt. He was 101.His death was confirmed by his son Max.

Dr. Ansbacher, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Vermont, was an authority on the works of Adler, who developed the theory of the inferiority complex and its role in the drive for power. Over 30 years, Dr. Ansbacher wrote a trilogy in collaboration with his wife, Dr. Rowena Ansbacher, in which they analyzed and commented on Adler's works. The books were widely regarded as indispensable in the fields of individual and abnormal psychology. The best known was "The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler," originally published by Basic Books in 1956. It was printed in more than 25 editions and in several languages.

Dr. Ansbacher and his wife were often credited with being more successful at disseminating Adler's theories than Adler was, because they wrote about his work more clearly than Adler did.Dr. Guy J. Manaster, a former editor of The Journal of Individual Psychology, called Dr. Ansbacher a "central figure worldwide in his mission of systematizing, disseminating and advancing Adlerian theory." Dr. Ansbacher was editor of the journal in the 1950's and 60's.

Adler, along with Freud and Jung, was an important force in modern psychology. He eventually broke with Freud, a fellow Austrian, over the predominant role that Freud gave to sexual desire and repression in neurosis and abnormal behavior. Adler, who died in 1937, placed more emphasis on the importance of individuals' relationships to the people around them. Adler believed that it was all but inevitable that feelings of inferiority would develop early in childhood, when the infant, surrounded by adults, feels helpless. The need to compensate for early feelings of inferiority, Adler said, could become extreme, stirring a thirst for power and control as ways to stamp oneself as superior. Though his ideas eventually gained wide acceptance, Adler had difficulty translating them into readily comprehensible writings. They were often dense, disorganized and unclear. It was here that Dr. Ansbacher and his wife were able to help.

Heinz Ludwig Ansbacher was born on Oct. 21, 1904 , in Frankfurt , a son of a banker and financier. After completing two years of college, the young man struck out for America in 1924. In New York , he took a job on Wall Street. His first encounter with Adler was in the spring of 1930, when he attended a series of lectures that Adler gave at Columbia University, where he was a visiting professor. Dr. Ansbacher was fascinated, he later recalled, and he was also unhappy with his Wall Street job and had just broken up with a longtime girlfriend. He sought out Adler for counseling at Adler's home at Gramercy Park .

In an account published in 1974, Dr. Ansbacher said Adler had been quick to sense his interest in psychology and suggested a career in it. Dr. Ansbacher enrolled at Columbia and earned his doctorate there. Adler also introduced him to a colleague, Rowena Ripin, who had recently earned her doctorate in psychology. They were married in 1934. She died in 1994. Besides his son Max, of New York , surviving are three other sons, Benjamin, of Burlington , N.C. ; Theodore, of White Plains ; and Charles, of Cambridge , Mass. , as well as seven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

In World War II, Dr. Ansbacher studied the effectiveness of American propaganda in Europe for the United States Office of War Information. After the war, he started teaching at the University of Vermont , where he stayed for his entire career. He resumed his passion for the ideas of Adler, often recounting his first brush with the pioneer, listening to him at Columbia .

"I have my notes: 'Individual psychology is concerned with how a person looks at himself. How does he want to use his powers,' " Dr. Ansbacher wrote in his 1974 memoir. " 'The 5-year-old has already formed a goal. The question is which is a desirable goal. The goal must be a cooperative one, and the ability to cooperate is the result of proper training. The task of individual psychology is to see which goal a child is headed for, and how he faces the problems of life we all must solve.' "

Tom Beames
1920 - 2005

   A well-known citizen of Ladysmith and member of The Island Adlerian Group died 10 October, 2005 . Tom was the founder of this group but his relationship with Adlerian psychology extended back a long way!

  Tom was born in Vancouver in 1920 but grew up in interior of British Columbia -- Peace River, Revelstoke, and Penticton among other towns. Early in WW2 he enlisted in the army then later transferred to the navy where he served until he was demobilized in 1945. He then earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees from UBC, a Master of Education from Oregon State University in Corvallis Oregon, and a Master of Arts from the Adler School of Professional Psychologyin Chicago.

            A master of the English language, Tom taught English in high schools in Wells and Williams Lake before moving to Lake Cowichiwan to take the position of Special Counsellor. The latter position expanded to the position of Director of Special Education in the Nanaimo school district where he continued until his "retirement".  Then he was a Psychologist in Private practice in Ladysmith. He was one of the founding members of the Ladysmith Resource Centre where he was a board member from the start, and continued for the next 13 years as president, vice president and secretary. For many years, he also ran the counselling program. 

      Soon after his move to Ladysmith, Tom and some other counsellors started and operated a Family Education Centre using Dr.Rudolf Dreikurs' schools as a model. This centre operated until all of the trained counsellors had retired (about 1989). Much of his work during this time involved the training of other counsellors. Some of these "trainees" and others formed the nucleus of the Island Adlerian Group founded by Tom as a continuation of a very loosely organized group of like-minded counsellors living and working in central Vancouver Island .  Beames lived in Ladysmith for the last 43 years.

        Tom leaves to mourn his wife Mary, son Denys and family, son John and family, daughter Ruth (Brown) and family sister Carol and family, seven grandchildren, nieces and nephews and many friends. 
 
Tom's father was an Anglican priest. Tom was a licensed lay readed in the Anglican Diocese of British Columbia .
  The Island Adlerian Group will miss this leader, mentor and special friend. He leaves a big gap in our group to say nothing of the gap in our hearts. Rest eternal, Tom! 
 

Maurice L. Bullard
January 7, 1907 – June 17, 2005

Maurice “Mauri” L. Bullard, a former resident of Covallis for 52 years, died June 17 in Woodburn, where he lived the last four years. He was 98.

He was born in Estacada to Benjamin F. Bullard and Clara E. Lacey Bullard. All of his ancestors crossed the plains in covered wagons. His mother’s ancestors arrived in 1852. His father’s ancestors arrived in 1865 on the Philip E. Linn Wagon Train.

He graduated from Estacada High School in 1925, and received a bachelor’s degree in 1931 and a master’s degree in 1949 from Oregon State College. He was an educator and studied psychology. 

He married Eva E. Kraus on March 18, 1933 at the Kraus farm near Camby, Aurora.

During World War II, Maurice was head of training programs for Henry Kaiser organization’s Oregon Shipbuilding Corp. in the Portland , Vancouver area.

He was a Corvallis High School industrial arts instructor from 1945 to 1948 and Corvallis High School vice principal from 1949 to 1959. He was director of guidance and special education for the Corvallis school district from 1959 until his retirement in 1972.

He played trombone at Oregon State College in the band, symphony and operetta orchestras. Mauri was the oldest member of the Oregon State University alumni marching band, playing into his mid-80’s. When he was 85, he was singled out of the alumni band at half time at an OSU football game and given recognition. He also played in the Albany Linn-Benton band for 17 years into his late 80’s until, “the music got too fast.”
In his work with Adlerian psychology, he organized the Oregon Society of Individual Psychology. Maurice and Eva published their newsletter with worldwide distribution for 17 years. He served 12 years as the International Association of Individual Psychology treasurer.

Maurice and Eva made many trips to Europe , along with trips to Chins, Canada , Mexico , and most of the United States .

In 1970 he built the restaurant building at Sixth and Harrison in Corvallis , which now operates as the fine Tarasco’s Mexican restaurant.

He enjoyed woodworking, hunting, fishing, cooking, photography, sports, electronics, travel, and music.
Maurice was a member of Kappa Kappa Psi band honorary fraternity and Epsilon Pi Tau, and Kappa Delta Pi academic honoraries at Oregon State College. He was also a member of the National Rifle Association, the Oregon Society of Individual Psychology and the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology.
He was preceded in death by this wife Eva E. Kraus Bullard in 1993 and his brothers Clarence F. Bullard in 1943, and Merlin A. Bullard in 1997.

He is survived by sons, Robert L. Bullard of Woodburn, and James M. Bullard of Portland ; four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
 

CASSEL, PEARL GEORGINA M.ED.

On July 3rd, 2007, age 75, she died of heart failure after a long battle with illness. Teacher, traveler, guidance counselor, author, naturalist, public speaker, patron of our native artists, cruise ship lecturer, photographer, fisherwoman, mother and grandmother. Born in Bengeo, England, Pearl studied science at the Universities of London and Southampton after turning down a scholarship that would have required her to study education. After three years in research pharmacology, her thirst for travel and adventure took her to North America, where she hitch-hiked through 40 states before serendipitously landing a short term teaching position in Toronto. Ironically, the experience discovered a passion for pedagogy that began a 35 year career in which she taught all elementary and high school grades, earned a Masters of Education at the University of Toronto and a Parent Education Diploma, and became a founding director of the Alfred Adler Institute of Ontario. With Dr. Rudolph Dreikurs, a colleague of Adler, she co-authored Discipline without Tears, a teacher and parent guide to managing primary school pupils through understanding motivation, which became an international bestseller translated into several languages. Pearl went on to author Why Kids Jump Over The Moon (Winner of the Elmer Huff Award, Ontario School Counselors Association) and, with co-author Dr. Raymond Corsini, The Challenge of Adolescence (Writers Award, FWTAO) and Coping with Teenagers in a Democracy. The success of her books and her love of helping others resulted in invitations to deliver over 1000 keynote speeches and workshops throughout North America, 
including most of Canada's major universities and many remote locations where she introduced Adlerian, democracy-based teaching approach to First Nations educators. Pearl developed a deep appreciation for native art and relationships with native artists, including the Hunts in British Columbia and Goyce Kakegamic, for whom she helped to arrange an airlift of his work when his studio was threatened by forest fire. Following her retirement from the public school system, Pearl alternated residences in Toronto, Florida, Victoria and Vancouver and repurposed her skills to guiding and educating adults on cruise ships. Greatly distressed when she became unable to continue cruise ship lecturing, she applied her characteristic determination to find other venues in which to contribute to the community: providing telephone support to the housebound through community care; organizing trips and events for 
her residence and local clubs; and, in her last year, returning to assist in a local elementary school, which she found as rewarding as any of the experiences in her rich life. Pearl is survived by son Paul and granddaughters Camille and Celeste inToronto and niece Linda in England. A celebration of Pearl's life will take place in the banquet room at 1880 Valley Farm Rd., Pickering, where she lived, on Friday, July 20th from 3:00 to 5:30PM. 
Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Pickering Naturalists, Box 304, Pickering, Ontario. L1V 2R6 or the Adlerian Psychology Association of 
British Columbia, 230-1818 W. Broadway Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1Y9

Oscar Carl Christensen

Oscar Carl Christensen 80, Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona, passed away August 22, 2008 after a long battle with respiratory problems.

He was an unforgettable man - a great husband, father, grandfather and teacher. Not only did he travel the world, demonstrating his work in many countries, but his students became educators, too. Chris was the nucleus of a constantly broadening organization spreading the concepts of encouragement and education.

For all his wisdom and success, Chris remained a consistently easy going friend. His quick wit and positive attitude easily affected all who met him, and we'll forever be appreciative of his belief in us.

Survived by his wife, Mary, of 59 years. Children: Katrin (Roger) Ball, of Sonoita; Karla Ember (Richard Wojcik), Peter (Mary Ann) Christensen; Karen (Barry) Spencer, all of Tucson. Grandchildren: David and Charlotte Ball, Trisha (Gino) Perkins, Amy (Kevin) Cutright, Benjamin (Julie) Radack, Laura Ember, Maren and Anna Christensen, John and Claire Spencer and five great- grandchildren. Sisters: Ardis Christensen and Marne Heiken of Oregon, and several nieces and nephews.

Born to Oscar and Marie Christensen in 1928 in Corvallis, Oregon. Attended grade school and high school in Oregon. After serving in the Navy at the end of WWII, returned to Oregon to attend the University of Oregon and Oregon State. Received his doctorate at the University of Oregon in 1963. Came to the Department of Counseling and Guidance in the College of Education at the U of A in 1967.

Member Beta Theta Pi fraternity and Phi Delta Kappa. Member of many professional organizations including the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology, ICASSI and was a founding member of the Adlerian Society of Arizona. Recipient of many honors and awards in his field.

At his request, there will be no funeral services. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Oscar Christensen Scholarship Fund c/o NASAP, 614 Old W. Chocolate Ave., Hershey, PA 17033.

Joseph Achim Grunwald 

Joseph Achim Grunwald (Jochim Grunwald), age 93, dear husband of the late Bronia, nee Birnbaum Grunwald; survived by his sister Hildegarde Dimmer, of Rodez, France; sister-in-law Freda Birnbaum of New York NY; and many loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Funeral Tuesday, November, 25, 2008 at 11 a.m. at the Oak Park Temple, 1235 N. Harlem Ave., Oak Park, IL. Interment Waldheim Cemetery. Memorials may be sent to: Oxfam America, 637 S. Dearborn St., Chicago, IL. 60601 For information: Piser Funeral Services, 847-679-4740.

Betty Meredith

  Alton – Betty Meredith spent her life dispensing advice on a variety of subjects, and there could never by any doubt about her credibility.

Meredith, 84, died Wednesday after 45 years of service to the Alton area. She was a guidance counselor in the Alton schools for 10 years and was in private practice as a marriage and family counselor, with her husband, Cam , for 25 years. Marriage advice had to mean something coming from the Merediths, who would have celebrated their 64th anniversary next month.

“I guess we would have been hypocrites if we were giving out advice to couples and then not following it ourselves,” Cam Meredith said Thursday.

It wasn’t always easy, though. The Merediths’ first child, also named Cameron, was born with a mental disability and spent most of his life in institutions. He died in 1997 at the age of 49.

“Sometimes things like that break a couple up,” Betty Meredith said in a 1992 interview with The Telegraph. “It drew us closer together. Camie is a special light in our life. He is everything that is good.”

Drawing from that experience, Betty Meredith became the first director, of the Preschool and Adjustment Center , which later became the William Bedell Achievement and Resource Center for children with special needs.
“Our oldest daughter (Marcia Paetau), got her degree in speech therapy, and our other daughter (Jane Meredith) teaches here in Alton, so I guess all of us were inspired to work with children because of Camie,” Cam Meredith said. “We were living up in Evanston when we moved him to Beverly Farm in 1952 (at age 4).”

The Merediths moved to Alton in 1959, and Cam Meredith was a professor of counseling and educational psychology at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville for 20 years. It was after his retirement in 1979 that the couple went into counseling together.

Betty Santee was born and raised in Flint , Mich. , and met Cam Meredith at a church youth group when she was in ninth grade.

“I was actually born in Canada , and then we moved down to Michigan ,” he said.

“It was love at first sight,” Betty Meredith said in 1992. “I said to (my parents), ‘Mrs. Cameron Meredith. How does that sound?’ My folks laughed and said to go to bed. Little did they know.”

Betty Meredith earned her bachelor’s degree in special education and then a master’s in counseling, both at SIUE. Along with her professional work, she wrote a weekly column on marriage and family for The Telegraph for several years. She also was active with the First Presbyterian Church in Alton , the Alton Community Service League, the United Way , the PEO Sisterhood and several other organizations.
 

Buzz O'Connell

Due to the length of Buzz' obituary please click here for pdf.

Dr. Gary Robert Snyder

Dr. Gary Robert Snyder, 59, passed away peacefully Aug. 4, 2007. He was surrounded by those who loved him. Gary will be missed by his wife, Teal Maedel; his sons, Scott and Rob Snyder; his granddaughter, Caitlin; his daughter-in-law, Megan; his stepchildren, Maxine and Steve Tobin; and numerous friends and family.  

Gary devoted his life — professionally and personally — to helping people live their own lives as fully, productively, and awarely as possible. He was a generous, patient teacher and a talented and insightful clinical psychologist, and in decades of work as an expert in the field of visual impairment, he earned the gratitude and respect of his clients, students and colleagues. Most recently he served as the clinical director of the Adler Centre, a nonprofit community counseling center in Vancouver, where he found a deep connection to the centre’s mission of counseling those in need and mentoring therapists-in-training. Gary loved his work and the company of his family and friends; he loved to paint and draw, to ride his bike and fly his kites.

Gary passed after a courageous two-month struggle with bile duct cancer.

A celebration of life was held Aug. 13 in Gary’s honour, at the False Creek Yacht Club, Vancouver. His ashes were scattered at Savary Island, off the coast of British Columbia. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the nonprofit Adler Psychology Association, www.adler.bc.ca

Dr. Welborn Kiefer Willingham 

March 12, 1928 - Jan. 13, 2007

Dr. Welborn Kiefer Willingham, 78, of Salado, Texas, died Saturday, January 13th, 2007, after a brief illness. Willingham, known as “Will” by his many friends, patients and colleagues, was born March 12th, 1928, in Fisher County, Texas. He was the son of W.B. Willingham and Madge Eason Willingham.

A 1949 graduate of Texas Tech University, Willingham received a Masters degree at The University of Texas and a Ph.D. at Tech. As an undergraduate, Willingham was sophomore class president, a member of and first pledge trainer of Saddle Tramps, Tech’s spirit organization, and a member of Socii Fraternity, which later became Sigma Nu.

After a brief stint as an officer in the United States Air Force, from which he retired in later years as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Reserves, Willingham spent most of his working life in academia. He was a professor in the Department of Education at Texas Tech, an adjunct professor at Tech’s medical school, and retired with the distinction of Professor Emeritus. A practicing psychologist, Willingham founded a counseling center in Lubbock, Texas. He was an active member of the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology, in which organization he was a delegate and leader for many years. He founded that association’s Graduate Student Forum and served as its director, encouraging many young people in the profession.

In recent years Willingham enjoyed his retirement, while overseeing his ranching interests in Fisher and Scurry Counties. On August 14th, 1950, he married a Lubbock native, Maxine McCollum, following a campus romance. After his Air Force tour of duty, University of Texas studies and a brief period in Hale Center, Texas, as the youngest school principal in the state at that time, they made their home in Lubbock, where they raised their family. In 2006, they relocated to Salado, Texas, where they had built a vacation home. Willingham’s ancestors were early settlers in Salado.

Will is survived by his wife of 56 years, Maxine; his three children: Sharon Willingham Harris of Garland, Dr. Douglas B. Willingham of Salado, and Sheila Willingham McBeth of Sarasota, Florida. He is also survived by six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Private graveside services were held Monday, January 15th, 2007, at the Willingham Cemetery in Salado, Texas, officiated by the Rev. Thomas A. Wallace, Rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Belton, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to one’s charity of choice.

Els Versteegh (Holland)
8/17/1917 - 3/9/2007

These sentiments were sent to NASAP by Beatrice Saemann

Els was very active in the Netherlands and worked in logopedics, sometimes with Theo Schoenaker and translated books as English was basically her mothertongue having been raised in China and Indonesia.  She graduated in languages and after the early death of her lawyer husband in 1958 was left with 5 children of 3-15 years old and then started her above work. Her mother had raised her with Adler somewhat, quoting him frequently : 'As ADLER said.'We met in Greece when ICASSI was on the island of Euboea and were very good friends ever since, visiting and staying with each other and
calling frequently. She organized  the Dutch parties at ICASSI in Noordwijkerhout and we  visited Mim and ICASSI when in Holland last time a few years back. She was a most elegant, beautiful very tall lady with a delightful sense of humor and common sense and was sought  after by friends, family and clients up to the end. She died at home after a short illness due to pancreatic cancer and was able to take leave of many of her friends on her last Sunday. Besides her 5 children she leaves 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren and will be dearly missed by many people, and not the least by her 98 year old  friend Jan with whom she had again planned a boat trip for this summer.

Evelyn Wachman
Died on January 23, 2008 at the age of 85

These sentiments were sent to NASAP by Bryna Gamson

For those among our membership who were trained at the old Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago, there will be grief in the knowledge of the passing of an old friend.  Evelyn Wachman died on Wednesday, January 23, 2008 at age 85.  She had been in increasingly poor health over the last several years.

Evelyn was hired by Dr. Dreikurs to do secretarial work sometime back in the early 1950s.  She had been helped by him in child guidance, having been widowed with a small son to raise.  As his office employee she brought a devotion to his message far beyond the limits of the paycheck.  It seems to me that Evelyn became a silent partner, enabling his widening travels, and implementor of the nitty-gritty necessary behind organizing a private practice widening into a training Institute.

When I worked there, from about 1982, I already knew Evelyn from her tireless work in FEA, the Family Education Association (formerly, Community Child Guidance Centers), which had grown up as the lay person's (mostly "mothers") organization, companion to the professional training organization that the Institute was. A modest woman, she brought her own unique "system" to managing all the balls Dr. D put into the air. Many believe he could not have been
as productive had he not had Evelyn, always ready to lengthen her workday to suit his ambitious, energetic needs.  Her memory was a treasure-trove to (people like me), those putting together a history of who's-who and who-did-what in the Adlerian psychology movement in Chicago.  (It was a good thing she had such a memory because her office reflected the sometimes-chaotic state of affairs at the overstretched Institute!  No one else could have put a finger so quickly on just the right piece of paper in that overflowing, daunting office space I knew her in.  Others might have kept it neater in the first place, but who knows if they would have been as productive.)

She was officially Office Manager and then Registrar, but also bookstore/recordings manager and all-around historian --and the glue!-- for the old Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago.  I believe the year she retired was 1985.

Evelyn eventually became close as a daughter to Tee Dreikurs.  In the end, when Tee lived in a nursing home, Evelyn was the "local family" representative, visiting and helping arrange things with caregivers. In fact, oddly enough, Tee and Evelyn shared a birthdate, February 28.  I always thought that was really neat.

Evelyn Wachman's devotion to Dr. D and to Adlerian family education were legendary.  I appreciated her enormously.  She would probably
have been shocked at any tribute, but we friends and Adlerians were the richer to have had her among us, and the poorer to have lost her.

These sentiments were sent to NASAP by Renee Dushman

I was saddened to hear of Evelyn Wachman's death.  To add to what Bryna said, Evelyn was a warm, caring person who was always ready and willing to be of help to anyone who had any connection the the"Institute".  As a student in the mid 70's, Evelyn was the "go to" person and I certainly was personally helped many times by her. Her pleasant smile could warm a person's heart and day.  She will be sorely missed.