William L Johnson

1932 - 2014
DR. WILLIAM L. JOHNSON (1932--2014)
March 20, 2014
Dr. William L. Johnson, of Greenwich Village passed away in Roosevelt Hospital on March 20th after a long illness. He was 81. Born in 1932, and raised in the Bronx, Johnson graduated from Evander Childs High School. He received a B.A. in Psychology from Queens College, a Master's Degree in Psychology from The New School For Social Research, an M.S.Ed in Clinical Psychology from City College of New York, and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Yeshiva University. Johnson later earned a post-graduate certificate in psychoanalysis from Adelphi University. During his psychoanalytic training Johnson studied with one of Sigmund Freud's first students, Theodore Reik. After being appointed chief psychologist at Orange County Mental Health Clinic in Goshen, NY, in the early 1960s, Johnson took up residence in Monroe, NY where he lived for nearly 20 years. In 1965, he began private practices in Monroe and Greenwich Village where he maintained both for close to 50 years until 2013 when he was diagnosed with a degenerative neurological condition. During his career Dr. Johnson was an adjunct professor in the doctoral programs in clinical psychology at both Adelphi University and New York University. Throughout his life Johnson enjoyed tennis and skiing, and he was an inveterate world traveler. He is survived by his daughters: Toni Ann Johnson of Los Angeles, and Dr. Hillary S. Johnson of Chicago; son-in-law, F. Christopher Lee of Chicago; granddaughter, Marissa C. Lee of Los Angeles; ex-wife Vera P. Johnson of Tuxedo, sister-in-law, Remelle Johnson of Queens; nieces, Elle Johnson of Los Angeles, Rita Gail Johnson of New York and his longtime companion, Pamela Byrd of New York.