Milton Wilner

Milton Wilner, a man of insatiable curiosity and boundless energy, passed away at 101 years, peacefully at home in his beloved Queensview Co-op.

Called Mickey by family and friends, Mickey's small stature belied his oversized personality. The ninth of ten children, he was the youngest son and treated with special love by his adoring parents and siblings. Out on the street in Sheffield Avenue in East New York, he played stickball with kids who became lifelong friends, and who developed along with him intellectual aspirations. He graduated from Brooklyn Tech and afterwards defied his mother by enlisting in the army. He proclaimed he wanted to kill the Nazis but instead was sent to the Philippines.

After the war Mickey benefited from the GI bill and attended New York University. Before graduating he met Dorothy Levine; on their first date Mickey, ever confident, told Dotty, "I'm gonna marry you."

Mickey and Dotty found common ground in their respective Belarusian ancestry, their left-leaning views, and the importance to both of family. Mickey began graduate school in psychology; Dorothy graduated from Hunter College and became a teacher. After they married they became founding cooperators in Queensview in Astoria, Queens. For over 65 years they were both involved in community decision-making, social life, and the raising of their two daughters, Deborah and Judith.

After earning his PhD in clinical psychology Mickey worked in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and in his own private practice. He was a founding member of the American Association for Partial Hospitalization and was for years Chief of Service at South Beach Psychiatric Center in Staten Island. He developed a specialty in hypnosis, mostly for smoking cessation, that resulted in a hilarious, but laudatory, New York Times profile by Molly Ivins, in which she described Mickey as "a short, calm, plump man."

In addition to his psychology work Mickey was active in the Peace Corps in the late 1960s and 1970s, working as a field officer in several West African countries, including Liberia and Ghana. With a voracious appetite for exploration Mickey and Dotty traveled extensively, to every continent but Antarctica.

Walking was a central part of Mickey's life. During the years of his private practice, Mickey would often walk from his office on Manhattan's Upper East Side over the Queensborough Bridge to his Astoria home. He encouraged friends, family, and neighbors to "just keep walking." Doctors claimed Mickey's years of physical activity helped him miraculously recover from his cardiac arrest at age 97.

Mickey had many good friends over the years, all of whom, sadly, he outlived. Although Mickey's activities became more limited after his recovery, he stayed joyful and walked almost daily with his two wonderfully competent, loving, and devoted caregivers, Cintra Orie and Shelly Ann Suckoo.

Mickey was preceded in death by his wife Dorothy; his parents, Rebecca and Philip; his siblings Benjamin, Louis, Faygel, Anna, Solomon, Julius, Emma, and Pearl. He is survived by his baby sister Marcia Greenburg; his daughters Deborah Hoffman (Richard) and Judith Lawrence; his grandsons Daniel (Aarati), Julian, and Elijah; his devoted nephew Joel Chabon; and numerous nieces and nephews, all of whom he loved dearly.

To honor Mickey's life, take a walk, hold a loved one, and eat a piece of chocolate. Consider donating to your local Public Broadcast station or the Peace Corps (peacecorps.gov) in his memory.