Ulrich B. Jacobsohn M.D. Obituary (1928

Ulrich B. Jacobsohn, 86, passed away peacefully at Maine Veterans’ Home in Augusta.ME on May 6, 2015, with his family by his side. Ulrich was born in Berlin, Germany on November 16, 1928, the son of Franz Jacobsohn, M.D. and Elsa Fanter Jacobsohn and the youngest of four children. The family fled the early Nazi Regime in 1933 after a friend’s warning, eventually taking refuge in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, until an Italian invasion two years later forced them to flee once again. The Jacobsohns finally found a safe harbor in Bangkok, Thailand, where Ulrich lived for ten years until the end of WW II. His father, Franz, was the sole ophthalmologist in Thailand for the next 30 years and founded Thailand’s first school for the blind. His mother Elsa was an outspoken journalist, becoming the first Caucasian woman to visit Libya; she wrote a book about her travels. In 1948, Ulrich emigrated to the United States to attend Reed College in Portland, Oregon in preparation to becoming a 7th generation physician in the family. Unlike his predecessors, Ulrich decided to specialize in psychiatry instead of ophthalmology at Washington University Medical School in St. Louis, MO. He did his residency at St. Louis City Hospital and Barnes Hospital where he met his future wife, Dorothy Jeanne Williams. They married in 1955 and settled in California where Ulrich completed his psychiatric residency at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland. He served as a Lt. Commander from 1956-1958 and in the Naval Reserves for another 20 years. During that time, Dr. Jacobsohn became focused on veterans returning with a pattern of mental illness we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and he became a pioneer in forms of treatment for PTSD. His work at Camarillo State Hospital inspired him to dedicate his attention to the treatment of patients with severe and persistent mental illness. Dr. Jacobsohn was a Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA Medical School in Los Angeles and was the Director of Psychiatric Services to the Emergency Department. He later had a successful private psychiatric practice in Northridge, CA. In 1971, Dr. Jacobsohn moved with his wife and four children to a beautiful home in Farmingdale, Maine. Dr. Jacobsohn became the Clinical Director of Augusta Mental Health Institute (now renamed Riverview Psychiatric Center) and later served as the Medical Director of the Maine Department of Mental Health. He developed an interest in forensic psychiatry and became the first psychiatrist in Maine to become board certified in that specialty. He was the Director of the State Forensic Services from its inception until he retired in 1998. He served as a state employee for 27 years. He was the first psychiatrist to serve as President of the Maine Medical Association. In addition to his public work, Dr. Jacobsohn served on school boards in California and Maine, as health officer to the Town of Farmingdale, as an advocate for families of patients living with mental illness, and as a strong supporter of local theater and arts. Dr. Jacobsohn was predeceased by his wife, Jeanne, in 2004 and by his sister, Irene Jacobsohn (who died in Thailand in the mid1940’s) and his brother, Peter Jacobsohn of Freemont, CA. He is survived by his sister, Lillian Luskin of Tampa, FL and by his four children and his seven grandsons: David C. Jacobsohn of Acton, MA and his wife Lorraine Jacobsohn and grandsons Bradley, Sheldon, and Clark; Julia E. Barrett of West Gardiner, ME and grandson Jack; Mark S. Jacobsohn of York, ME and his wife Denise Jacobsohn and grandsons Alex, James, and John; and Stacey A. Jacobsohn of Augusta, ME. Dr. Jacobsohn will be remembered as an incredibly strong and loving father by his children and as a compassionate and skilled physician by those whose lives he touched over nearly 50 years of his work as a physician. The hundreds of colleagues and thousands of patients he affected revered him for treating them all as his own family, demanding the best and healing the worst in all of them. He will always be remembered for his quick smile and soulful eyes, his love for teaching, gardening, music, travel, and the latest technology, and his kindness to all he encountered. Funeral services will be held at 2 PM on Saturday, May 9th, after visiting hours with the family from 12-2 PM, at Knowlton and Hewins Funeral Home and Cremation Service, at 1 Church St., Augusta, ME, followed by a private burial service in Farmingdale. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that those who wish to remember Dr. Jacobsohn consider a donation to NAMI Maine, 1 Bangor St., Augusta, ME or The Kennebec Valley Humane Society, 10 Pet Haven Lane, Augusta, ME. 04330. Memories, condolences and photos may be shared with the family on the obituary page of the website at www.khrfuneralhomes.com