Click Here to Read: Maurice (Ries) Vanderpol Obituary in the Boston Globe.
I am sorry to inform you of the death of Maurice (Ries) Vanderpol on October 19 at the age of 92. Dr. Vanderpol was an admired psychiatrist and psychoanalyst and an important voice over the decades for those who demonstrated courage and compassion during the Holocaust.
Dr. Vanderpol was born in Amsterdam. In 1942, during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam, he went into hiding, together with his brother and mother, until 1945. In 1946, he immigrated to the United States. Having begun medical school in the Netherlands, he entered Boston University Medical School where he went on to complete his medical education.
Dr. Vanderpol graduated from the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute in 1965, and was an active member for fifty years, serving for three years as Chair of the Board of Trustees. He was on the staff of McLean Hospital for over thirty years.
Through his involvement with Facing History and Ourselves, where he served on the Board of Directors, Dr. Vanderpol spoke with hundreds of students about his experience in occupied Amsterdam. Together with his wife Netty, he started the Walter Suskind Fund which endows the Young at Arts program at the Wang/Citi Performing Arts Center. In 2008, BPSI presented Dr. Vanderpol with the inaugural Arthur Kravitz Award, honoring his humanitarian work.
In addition to his wife Netty, Ries Vanderpol leaves his son Dolph, his daughter Nikki and four grandchildren. He will be remembered as a warm and generous friend and colleague. The family will hold a reception on Saturday, October 25 from 4:30-7:30 pm, at North Hill, 865 Central Avenue in Needham. A memorial service will be held at The Memorial Church, Harvard University on Friday, November 21, 2014 at 2:00 pm.
Donations in his memory may be made to: the Walter Suskind Memorial Fund, c/o the Citi Performing Arts Center, attn. Josiah Spaulding, 270 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02216 and/or Facing History and Ourselves, 16 Hurd Street, Brookline, MA 02445.
Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Inc.
169 Herrick Road, Newton Centre, MA 02459
617.266.0953 www.bpsi.org