JOHN FRANCIS MCDERMOTT John "Jack" Francis McDermott died Dec 6, 2015 in his home in Honolulu. He was 85. Born in Hartford, CT Jack was a tenured professor of child psychiatry at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor before moving to Honolulu with his family in 1969 to help establish the UH School of Medicine and found its Department of Psychiatry where he served as Professor and Chair for 25 years. A voracious reader and world traveler Jack had an endless curiosity about people and history. He embraced Hawai`i's myriad cultures, making the understanding of social and cultural influences on mental health and treatment a core mission of his work locally, nationally and internationally. He was a gifted writer and speaker who wrote 12 books and hundreds of scientific papers along with popular analyses of films like Star Wars and the poet Emily Dickinson, and the book "Raising Cain (and Abel too): The Parents Book of Sibling Rivalry". He was Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and introduced child psychiatry to Indonesia, later heading the Child Psychiatry section of the World Psychiatric Association. But it is his great wit, wisdom and ready smile that will be missed most among friends and family around the world, and the countless psychiatrists he mentored. He is survived by his beloved wife of 57 years, Sally, daughter Beth, son John and daughter-in-law Heather, his three grandchildren Piper, Jack and Phoebe, and two siblings, brother Ted McDermott of Grosse Pointe MI and Father Martin McDermott of Beirut, Lebanon. A memorial service for Jack will be held Sunday Jan 10 at 3 p.m. at St Clements Episcopal Church with reception to follow. In lieu of flowers donations to JABSOM's endowed professorship in psychiatry may be made at uhfoundation.org/ McDermott.
JOHN FRANCIS MCDERMOTT John "Jack" Francis McDermott died Dec 6, 2015 in his home in Honolulu. He was 85. Born in Hartford, CT Jack was a tenured professor of child psychiatry at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor before moving to Honolulu with his family in 1969 to help establish the UH School of Medicine and found its Department of Psychiatry where he served as Professor and Chair for 25 years. A voracious reader and world traveler Jack had an endless curiosity about people and history. He embraced Hawai`i's myriad cultures, making the understanding of social and cultural influences on mental health and treatment a core mission of his work locally, nationally and internationally. He was a gifted writer and speaker who wrote 12 books and hundreds of scientific papers along with popular analyses of films like Star Wars and the poet Emily Dickinson, and the book "Raising Cain (and Abel too): The Parents Book of Sibling Rivalry". He was Editor in Chief of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and introduced child psychiatry to Indonesia, later heading the Child Psychiatry section of the World Psychiatric Association. But it is his great wit, wisdom and ready smile that will be missed most among friends and family around the world, and the countless psychiatrists he mentored. He is survived by his beloved wife of 57 years, Sally, daughter Beth, son John and daughter-in-law Heather, his three grandchildren Piper, Jack and Phoebe, and two siblings, brother Ted McDermott of Grosse Pointe MI and Father Martin McDermott of Beirut, Lebanon. A memorial service for Jack will be held Sunday Jan 10 at 3 p.m. at St Clements Episcopal Church with reception to follow. In lieu of flowers donations to JABSOM's endowed professorship in psychiatry may be made at uhfoundation.org/ McDermott.Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the deceased
