Leonard Schwartz, a longtime psychologist on Long Island and a...

Leonard Schwartz, a longtime psychologist on Long Island and a co-author of two books on psychotherapy, died on Feb. 21 at age 96. Credit: Alex Arias

Even after his burial, Ellen Schiff, the eldest of four, said her father, longtime psychologist Leonard Schwartz, still surprised his family with tales from those he helped through his decades of work with patients.

“After he died, we found out about ways that he had helped people, or our friends from high school or their families that we didn’t even know about,” said Schiff, 70, of Glen Cove. “He would just help them through a hard time or get them through some kind of hump, but it was nice to hear stories like someone who lost his wife and my dad helped them through his grieving.”

Leonard Schwartz of Brightwaters died on Feb. 21 after battling illness. He was 96. Services were held on Feb. 23 at Gutterman’s Chapel in Woodbury and burial was at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens. He is survived by four daughters and six grandchildren.

Born in Brooklyn on Nov. 25, 1926, Schwartz was the second-oldest of four siblings including brothers Richard Reynolds, Melvin Schwartz and Phillip Schwartz.

After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in 1944, Schwartz enlisted that same year in the Navy as a naval air gunner during World War II. During his time in the service, Schwartz discovered his path to the field of mental health in an unlikely way, according to his daughter Judi Schwartz.

“He would have these thoughts of attacking or bombing Germany or Hitler,” said Judi Schwartz, 66, of Burlington, Vermont. “And he thought that ‘Well, if I have these thoughts, then other people have these thoughts.’ That inspired him to want to help other people.”

After the war, Leonard Schwartz received his bachelor’s degree from City College of New York in 1948 and his master's from there in 1949, and his doctorate for clinical psychology in 1954.

His first full-time job was as a school district psychologist for the Second Supervisory District of Patchogue in 1951, where he provided mental help support for Islip and Brookhaven school students. After several years, Schwartz started his own practice, which he ran for several decades up to around the COVID-19 pandemic.

A member of the American Academy of Psychotherapists, Schwartz wrote two books on psychology, “Becoming a Couple: A Psychotherapeutic Theory of Relationships” with his late wife, psychologist Roslyn Schwartz, and “Psychomaterialism: How Psychotherapy Works” with psychologist George Bouklas.

Linda Schiavone, 70, a therapist in Brightwaters who worked with Leonard Schwartz for years, credited him with teaching her about anxiety and the importance of making connections with people “in all walks of life” through her work.

“He taught me more about life and fear and anxiety,” Schiavone said. “He taught me so much, he brought so much wisdom to my brain. He had just such a broad way of thinking, emotionally and spiritually.”

In his free time, Leonard Schwartz loved to spend time with his family at his house on Fire Island. His family described him as a man who loved the water and spent time boating, fishing, swimming and enjoying other aquatic activities.

His granddaughter Micaela Kuhn, 35, of Bay Shore, said his nature was complex, yet warm.

“He was charming and disarming, yet at the same time he was tough as nails,” Kuhn said. “He was larger than life, larger in every way.”

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