Dr. Davis Pollack, dentist and advocate for people with mental illnesses, dies at 98

Dr. Davis Pollack, a dentist by profession, was remembered as a fierce advocate for compassionate care and support for people with mental illnesses, a man many said was persuasive in championing his cause "in a gentle way."

"Davis was a fierce, tireless advocate because of his experiences with families for decades who wanted to see more compassionate care and opportunities for people with mental illnesses," said Michael Stoltz, a former chief executive of the Association for Mental Health and Wellness, based in Ronkonkoma. Pollack was a founding board member of the association.

Ralph Fasano, executive director of Concern Housing, which provides housing for a wide range of clients from veterans to people with mental and physical disabilities, said: "As a board member [of Concern Housing], Davis was so supportive and passionate."

"I never remember him not supporting a project and giving you the support you needed to get it done. He led this board into his 90s," exuding "energy and passion" that often surprised others, Fasano said.

Pollack died of natural causes on Friday at an assisted living center in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he had been living for about three years, said his son Michael Pollack of Sperryville, Virginia. Davis Pollack was 98. He previously lived in Bay Shore for 60 years.

Davis Pollack was born in Brooklyn and earned a bachelor's degree from Brooklyn College. He earned his degree in dentistry from New York University in the late 1940s, his son said. Then he served in the U.S. Army as a dentist in the 1950s, his son said.

Upon returning to the United States, Pollack lived with his wife, Helen, a social worker, and family in Brooklyn. They moved in the 1950s into a rental in Amityville with their first child, daughter Fern, before buying a home in Bay Shore in 1961.

Pollack retired early from his dentistry practice after two of his three children were diagnosed with mental illnesses. He "was plunged into advocacy" as a result, the son said.

Michael Pollack said his father joined the National Alliance on Mental Illness, once serving as its first vice president, and would eventually found a Queens/Nassau affiliate chapter at Long Island Jewish Hospital.

According to Stoltz, Davis Pollack's advocacy began in the late 1980s. Along with about a half-dozen families in Suffolk, Pollack got "startup funding for what was called the clubhouse model of psychiatric rehabilitation. That became the Clubhouse of Suffolk," Stoltz said. He said the clubhouse eventually merged with the Mental Health Association of Suffolk and Suffolk County United Veterans, forming the Association of Mental Health and Wellness in 2012, when Stoltz said he became chief executive before retiring in 2020.

Stoltz said a major focus of Pollack's advocacy "was attacking and reducing the stigma of mental illness for individuals and [their] families." He said Pollack also was concerned with providing good housing for people with mental illnesses, noting that Pollack's advocacy started around the time individuals were released from state hospitals — some advocates called it "dumping" — into communities. "Dave fought for funding and models that were dignified for people with mental illness," Stoltz said.

In an interview with Newsday in 1999, Pollack said: "The old thinking was 'put them in a hospital and throw away the key.' There was minimal rehabilitative services to help them become functional, productive citizens of society. But with the advent of new psychotropic medication and good rehabilitation programs, patients can recover."

Michael Pollack called his father a "very tender man."

Davis Pollack's wife, daughter Fern and younger son Jonathan all predeceased him. In addition to his son Michael, survivors include a brother, Robert Pollack, of Queens; sister-in-law Anita Pollack, of Florida; and grandson David Vicenty of Burtonsville, Maryland.

The family plans a celebration of life in the spring.

By Olivia Winslow

olivia.winslow@newsday.com@newsollie