ALAN ROBERTSON M.D.

1920 - 2014

Alan M Robertson, MD. died peacefully of natural causes in Elmhurst, Illinois on March 2, 2014. He was 94 years old. Born in New York City in 1920, he was the eldest of the three sons of Oswald H. Robertson, MD, and Ruth Allen, RN. Alan and his brothers, Donald and Robert, spent their early years in Beijing, where his father served as Medical Director of the Rockefeller Institute of Medicine. For the rest of his life, Alan retained very fond memories of his early years in China. In 1926, his family moved to the South of France, and in 1927 the family relocated to Chicago, where Alan would spend most of his life. He attended the University of Chicago Lab School and High School, and went on to graduate from the University of Chicago Medical School as a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society, After a medical internship in Boston, he returned to the University of Chicago for a residency in psychiatry and further training at the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis. Alan met Agnes Henrickson, RN, while they were both serving in the navy, stationed at Great Lakes Naval Base in Waukegan, Illinois. They were married in 1948, and in 1955 moved to suburban Elmhurst,where they raised three children: Christopher, Marilyn, and Melissa, all of whom attended York Community High School and went on to college and graduate studies, as well as careers in the health care professions. Alan established his private practice in psychiatry in downtown Chicago, in 1950. He also served on the clinical facult of the University of Illinois School of Medicine Circle Campus. Agnes and Alan enjoyed 54 years of marrage before Agnes died of natural causes in 2002. Alan continued to practice and teach psychiatry until his retirement in 2009 at the age of 89. In keeping with a tradition established by his father, Alan and his family spent summer vacations in rustic Naubinway, Michigan, a fishing village in the Upper Peninsula. There he conveyed his deep love for nature to his children and taught them how to fish, sail, and water ski. Alan is survived by his brother Donald, his three children and four grandchildren; Luke and Rebecca Robertson, Carson Tazuk, and Markie Wagner, His memory will be an inspiration to all who knew and loved him.