March 20, 2007

IN MEMORIAM

Milton Wexler, psychoanalyst in Los Angeles for over fifty years, founder of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, beloved father of Alice and Nancy, mentor, friend, advisor, "the elder of our tribe," died at home on March 16, 2007, at the age of ninety-eight. Born in San Francisco in 1908, Milton grew up in New York City where he trained as a lawyer, before becoming a psychoanalyst in the 1930s.

In 1946 he joined the staff of the Menninger Foundation in Topeka Kansas and, in 1951, moved to Los Angeles, where he practiced psychoanalysis and psychotherapy for over fifty years. Following his wife's diagnosis with Huntington's disease in 1968 he started the Hereditary Disease Foundation, serving as Chairman of the Board for nearly forty years. This organization spearheaded the location of the Huntington's disease gene in 1983 and its final isolation in 1993. A great admirer of both artists and scientists, he drew on his therapeutic experience with artists to develop an innovative scientific workshop program that served as a model for biomedical research far beyond the world of Huntington's disease.

A memorial will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Hereditary Disease Foundation at 3960 Broadway, 6th Floor, New York, New York 10032.

Published in the Los Angeles Times on 3/20/2007.

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