Sidney Gelfand

He Loved His Family, Home, and Life

Sidney Gelfand was born in Philadelphia in 1922, and grew up there. His death from pneumonia was on February 27, 2010, after a long illness. He served as an Army medic in the South Pacific in WWII, and then returned to Philadelphia to earn his B.A from Temple University. He went on to the graduate program in experimental psychology at the University of Maryland and earned a master's degree there. Sid had a life-changing experience, for which he received a service award, when he directed an off-duty college program for the University of Maryland and the Air Force in Germany, helping many service men get a college education. He traveled widely in Europe, enjoying the arts, foods, and people. He completed his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Utah and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. He served several years as a clinical psychologist at the Palo Alto VA Hospital before returning to Utah where he was the administrator of a ward for vets with chronic and severe schizophrenia. With his group of psychology students and psychiatric residents he developed a remarkably effective behavioral treatment program, elements of which are still widely used today. Without being required to do so for his job, he published a number of papers about that program and other topics simply because he truly enjoyed research.

Sid was an enthusiastic outdoorsman dedicated to the preservation of the beauty of the earth and all its creatures. Even later in life he took long backpacking trips, bought and rowed a river raft with friends, and explored southern Utah on 4-wheel driving trips. He skied for many years and in the mornings before work he and a friend challenged each other in hard-fought squash games. Sid read widely on a vast number of divergent subjects until the very end of his life. He often said, "This is a great book, you should read this."

Sid was also a humanitarian who helped to improve the lives of people in need by contributing to many charities. He disliked any pretentiousness, enjoyed a good laugh and could see the humor even in bad situations.

He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Donna, and his daughter, Lori, who both miss him so very much. A memorial service will be held in mid-May. Sid would have appreciated gifts to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Psychology Department at the University of Utah. His family would like to thank the many hospital staff members who did so much to heal him and make him comfortable, especially the exceptional ICU team at St. Marks hospital.

Online messages and memories can be shared with Sid's family at: www.holbrookmortuary.com