JOEL MARKOWITZ

MARKOWITZ--Dr. Joel. Dr. Joel Markowitz, age 95, died in the early hours of January 1, 2023, at home. Doting husband for 68 years of the late pianist Elizabeth Rich; adored and loving brother to his "dear little baby sister", Judge Sondra Miller; extraordinary father to John, Adam and Anne Markowitz; adoring, proud grandfather of Caitlin Smith and Nicholas, Oliver and Cordelia Bellinson, and astonished great-grandfather of Ray and Milo Smith. He was also admiring mentor and surrogate father to his nephew and niece, David and Wendy Miller. Joel was born in Brooklyn to Idel and Mina Markowitz and attended the Horace Mann School, Cornell University and Columbia University School of Physicians and Surgeons. He was in the Navy in 1945. Immediately drawn to psychiatry, he was a Freudian psychiatrist in private practice for 64 years, until his illness in October 2022. His patients were, after his family, the most important people in his life. An eternal optimist about the movement forward of the human group, he also wrote and lectured about psychohistory - not only what happened, but why historical events happened the way they did. He often stated that, in parallel to Freud's description of individual development, the human group is leaving latency for adolescence and reaching for early maturity. He valued experience over wealth, typewriters over cars, mind over material. He cared nothing for what people thought of his choices. He had a pet crow and could recite hundreds of poems from memory. One of the first joggers in Central Park, he looked out over his beloved park even in his last days. A man of unusual empathy, insight, tolerance and compassion, he brought love, understanding, and help to the lives of everyone who knew him. He leaves an enormous void in our lives, but we will carry him on in our hearts and minds.