Andrew Jay "Andy" Pollock

1944 - 2016

NORTHAMPTON - Andrew "Andy" Jay Pollock of Northampton, passed away peacefully in his home on the evening Nov. 30, 2016, after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer. He was a loving husband, wise father, and respected community leader.

Andy was born April 7, 1944, a child of the Bronx and later New Rochelle, New York. After graduating from the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, he pursued a pre-medical bachelor's degree at Middlebury College in Vermont, completed two years of medical school at the Flower Free Surgical Hospital (now New York Medical College), and then moved on to find his passion working with children and teenagers at Shaker Village, a summer camp in hundreds of acres of beautiful Berkshire land just across the Massachusetts border in New York.

In 1977, Andy became the first program manager of the Cutchins Program, known at the time as the Northampton Center for Children and Families. He advocated fiercely for alternative treatment methods and nonviolent restraint in group homes, finding inspiration in the social and civil activism that filled his childhood and teenage years in New York City. He retired from Cutchins in 2011 after serving 25 years as the program director and eight as the organization's executive director.

Less than a decade into his work with Cutchins, Andy first met Barbara Tytell, a young case manager, through a meeting at the organization in 1983. A quiet man, Andy mustered the courage to ask Barbara on a date, and the two married Sept. 28, 1986. Their son Simon was born two years later in 1988.

Andy was often described as a man of deep feelings who preferred political discussions to small talk. He may have been more apt to pick a folk tune on his guitar or retreat to his wood shop to design and craft furniture, a passion he first developed as a camper at Shaker Village, rather than engage in prolonged conversations.

Andy filled his home with his woodwork, his music, and his love. Cabinets, side and coffee tables, and other original pieces add warmth throughout the home he so proudly built with Barbara on Massasoit Street, where they raised Simon from the age of two. He loved learning about history, politics, and modern culture. He also had a passion for sailing, and took many wonderful sailing trips with his family and friends.

Though he built a reputation as a man of measured words, Andy delighted in telling stories. Children and staff of the Cutchins Program may remember the particular joy he had in sharing Lincoln Steffens' A Miserable Merry Christmas during the New Directions School Christmas Party each year. During poker games with close friends or in the midst of a meal, he would perk up and entertain with a favorite joke or story.

In retirement, Andy returned to music, singing a cappella with all-male group The Wiseguys and took pride in participating in Northampton's First Night celebration. He was also able to devote more time to his love of books, and whether on the treadmill or in the woods of West Whately, Andy would often listen to mysteries or history on his iPod.

After more than two decades living across the street from the Hampshire Regional YMCA, he guided the board of directors for nearly two years, a role which highlighted his compassionate, but firm style of administration.

Andy leaves behind his wife of 30 years Barbara Tytell; his son Simon Pollock; his sister Isobel Pollock; his soon-to-be daughter-in-law Michelle Yellin; and many adoring friends and former colleagues. He will be greatly missed and always remembered.

Funeral services will be held Sunday, Dec. 4, at Noon at Congregation B'nai Israel. Shiva will be held Monday, Dec. 5, and Tuesday, Dec. 6, at Andy and Barbara's home.

Donations in Andy's name can be made to the Cutchins Program for Children and Families.

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