David Raskin, M.D., M.Ed., 63

12/02/2000

David Raskin, age 63, of Pollack Avenue in Pittsfield, died of cancer Saturday at Berkshire Medical Center. Dr. Raskin was born in New York City on January 4, 1937, son of William Raskin and Pearl Prensky Raskin. He grew up in the Bronx and graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1954, and from Cornell University in 1958. He pursued his medical education at the State University of New York, College of Medicine, in Brooklyn (Downstate), completing his medical degree in 1962 and his medical internship at Kings County Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, in June 1963. Between his medical internship and his psychiatric residency, Dr. Raskin married and moved to Paris for a year while working at the Amercian Hospital in Neuilly-Sur-Seine. Upon his return from Paris, he lived with his family in Manhattan, where he completed his residency in psychiatry and began a private psychiatric practice. His first two children, Adam and Rebecca, were born there. In 1972, Dr. Raskin moved with his family to Pittsfield, where he worked part-time as a staff psychiatrist at the Berkshire Medcial Center, and established a private practice on North Street. In 1979,Dr. Raskin left Pittsfield for three years to live in Brunswick, Maine, and to work as the Assistant Director of the Department of Psychiatry at Kennebec Valley Medical Center in Augusta. His youngest daughter, Laura was born in Brunswick. He returned to Massachusetts in 1982 to become Assistant Director of Psychiatry at the Northampton Veterans Administration Medical Center. In 1987, he became the Director of Bekshire Medical Center's new psychiatric intensive care unit, Jones III, and held that position until the spring of 1999, continuing to work at the department of psychiatry in its outpatient services. He was appointed Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1989, a post he enjoyed tremendously and held until his death. His appreciation for the love of teaching extended beyond medicine and prompted him to obtain a Master's Degree in early childhood education through Lesley College in 1993. Dr. Raskin joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard in 1983 as a major in the medical corps, where he served as both a general medical officer and a psychiatrist. In that role, he was selected by the Massachusetts and National Guard Bureau to train in military psychiatry at the United States Army Hospital in Heidelberg, West Germany. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and retired from the service in 1997. Dr. Raskin's dedication to the profession of psychiatry combined an innate ability as a problem solver in the context of psychological illness with an ongoing quest for expanding and implementing his knowledge about psychiatry and psychopharmacology. He developed and led a team of committed, compassionate practitioners, each of whom he saw as playing an equally critical role in the care and treatment of patients. At the same time, he pursued his passions for music, theatre, painting and literature. His love for classical and jazz music prompted him to study the piano and clarinet at the Pittsfield Community Music School. At his death, Dr. Raskin was enrolled in a music theory course at Berkshire Community College. He was a member of and active participant in the Pittsfield Town Players where he performed in many plays including "Light Up the Sky","The Foreigner", "Noises Off", and "Brighton Beach Memoirs". His unceasing curiosity and creative drive led him to pursue watercolor-painting, collagemaking, and creative writing. Even while ill, he wrote and published an essay, "Life with Chronic Illness: An Owner's Report," in the Berkshire Medical Journal. Although he lived in many places, Dr. Raskin cherished Pittsfield as his community. He and his wife, L. Annie Dellert Raskin, were married March 20, 1976 in Orleans, Massachusetts. Besides his wife, Dr. Raskin is survived by his two daughters, Rebecca Cassandra Raskin of Burlington, Vermont and Laura Katherine Raskin, a College student in Washington, D.C.; his sister Harriet Bottinick of New York City; a niece Elizabeth Bottinick Margolin and a nephew William Bottinick, both of New York City; and Joan Cole Raskin, of St. Petersburg, Florida, the mother of his children, Rebecca and Adam. His son, Adam William Raskin, died of leukemia on January 5, 1994. A memorial service will be held on Sunday Dec. 17, at 2 PM at the Unitarian Church in Pittsfield. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Adam William Raskin Memorial Scholarship Fund, care of Ann Feeley, Mercer Administration Center, 269 First Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201, or to the Pittsfield Players, Box 765, Pittsfield, MA 01202.

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