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Tributes
Jeffrey Lee Longhofer, PhD, LCSW
(1955-2023)
Deceased January 31, 2023 | Posted February 3, 2023
Sad News: Jeff Longhofer's Passing
To Our Members,
It is with deep sadness that we inform you of the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Jeff Longhofer, Past Co-President of AAPCSW. Jeff contributed to our organization and the field in so many ways, with his original, sharp, and brilliant ideas. He blended clinical social work and psychoanalysis with his earlier work as an anthropologist. We will miss him. May his memory be a blessing.
Our sincere condolences to Jeff's partner, Jerry Floersch, Past Co-President of AAPCSW with Jeff. The duration of Jeff's illness, allowed Jerry to prepare his thoughts in advance for their OnCaring.org website.
See the link below for details of mourning Jeff and celebrating his life. https://oncaring.org/blog/x2hfy0zwqmlh5pfsavim669jlnhsh9
Jerry wrote that it is his hope that “as Jeff's physical self transformed into a spirit self, Jeff's spirit will inspire us to imagine what we are not now.”
In sympathy,
Penny Rosen, Brian Ngo-Smith on behalf of the AAPCSW Board
PS: Tributes in Memory of Jeff are being collected for posting on our website. Send tributes to Penny Rosen at rosenpmsw@aol.com.
Tributes
This is devastating news. Jeff was one of the most engaged, interesting, talented, warm, inviting, curious scholars I've ever been lucky enough to know and he made a profound impact on our field. The world is diminished without his charm, talent, enthusiasm, and kindness. I will miss him and hope that we can honor him at AAPSCW, in November.
Joan Berzoff, Northampton, MA.
The first time I met Jeff was when I took a class from him as an American Psychoanalytic Association teaching scholar. He was totally brilliant. Somehow we then stumbled upon the fact that my father was a well-known Anthropologist (in retirement). He literally almost leapt into the air, as he had admired and read my father's work. It was deeply moving to see this response. When I presented at an AAPCSW national conference in North Carolina my father came to hear my talk. Jeff met him and spoke to him about the deep impact my father's work had on him. My father, who is very humble and elderly, was deeply moved. The way in which Jeff embraced my father and his work was not unusual. I think this is the way he approached so many things in his life-- with incredible energy, joy, and brilliance. My deepest condolences to his family and to his beloved partner, Jerry.
Natalie Peacock-Corral, AAPCSW North Carolina Area Chair, North Carolina
So sad. A terrible loss. Such a smart and lovely man. Condolences to Jerry.
Samoan Barish, Santa Monica, CA
(Former AAPCSW President)
Very sorry to hear of Jeff's passing. Warm condolences to Jerry. Many thanks for the lovely words and poem.
Janet Burak, New York, NY
It was with deep sadness that I recently learned of Jeff's passing. I had the privilege of hearing him present at AAPCSW some years ago and getting to know him through his unwavering commitment to establishing Psychoanalytic Social Work as AAPCSW's official journal, as well as through his later contributions as a journal board member. His keen intellect, passion, and scholarly command of three different disciplines — clinical social work, anthropology, and psychoanalysis — made him truly exceptional, and his leadership as our organization's co-President represented yet another of his many talents. My deepest condolences to Jerry, and to his many friends and colleagues. He shall be missed.
Jerry Brandell, Ann Arbor, MI
(Editor in Chief, Psychoanalytic Social Work)
As many of you have already learned, we have lost a valued member of the ACE Foundation Board, Jeffrey Longhofer, PhD, LCSW. If you ever met a charming, quick-witted, kind hearted Rutgers's tenured professor who made you feel you must be part of his group to learn the basics of clinical social work practice, chances are you had encountered Jeff. Not surprising in view of his commitment to clinical social work, I met Jeff and his treasured partner, Jerry Floersch, Ph.D., LCSW when they shared the presidency of AAPCSW. After several meals together exchanging concerns about the future of psychodynamic education in graduate schools, it seems obvious to invite them both to be Board members of the Advanced Clinical Education Foundation (ACE). Fortunately for all concerned they agreed. Jeff's contributions to our monthly 60-minute meetings were dynamite. Ideas about organizational structure, educational program concepts, upgrades to our website, including our genius IT person, self-study guidelines, honorarium arrangements …..so many ideas generously and enthusiastically shared. And then they moved back to Kansas. And I am very happy to report it didn't change the prodigious level of his contributions one bit. A ZOOM tour of their garage revealed a new level of technological undertakings for bringing educational activities out of the Midwest to the profession. Jeffrey Longhofer, PhD, LCSW died on January 31, 2023. His intelligence, genuineness and enthusiasm for the future of clinical social work will be missed by many but most especially by our Board.
With great sadness,
Marsha Wineburgh, New York, NY
(President, Advanced Clinical Education Foundation (ACE) of the NY State Society of Clinical Social Work; AAPCSW Past President)
My heart is heavy as I write my thoughts about Jeff. As anyone who had a conversation with him could attest, Jeff was an engaging intellect. It is how we first became acquainted at a coffee shop in Highland Pak, NJ, where we were both living at the time. Discussing theory with Jeff was just fun. Our professional paths persisted over the years. We shared common cause as professors who were dismayed at the lack of depth in clinical education at schools of social work. But my more poignant memories are the personal ones. Over the years, my husband and I enjoyed many experiences with Jeff and his beloved spouse Jerry. Along with his curious mind, he loved to travel, attend theater and was quite a foodie. He knew how to enjoy life. We crossed paths with Jeff and Jerry in many places. In Cambridge, MA, where they came to do a radio taping; at theaters or restaurants in New York City; we even got together in Palm Springs where we were both vacationing. Were it not for Jeff, we might never have been aware of Pink Martini, an orchestra that we have come to enjoy a great deal. For these and many other memories, I will keep Jeff in memory. He touched me with his kindness, intelligence, belief in social justice, and joie de vivre.
Cathy Siebold, New York, NY and Cambridge, MA (AAPCSW Past President)
At one of the Shiva evenings held for Jeff Longhofer, Jeff's zest for life came alive. Whether guests were in person or on zoom, we heard heartwarming remembrances of Jeff. Jerry Floersch, Jeff's beloved partner, was the gracious host in Kansas. We were asked to share words that came to our minds about Jeff. For me, the words were: brilliant, creative, caring. Even Jeff's caring and activism was widespread. For example, addressing the infrastructure problem in their New Jersey community (a traffic issue affecting predominately a specific population in their town). Professionally, Jeff's presentations were original, referencing many disciplines. At a profound play at the Park Avenue Armory in NYC that Jeff, Jerry, and I attended, Jeff's mind raced to give his impression and give it a contemporary context. Jeff's words - “it's complicated; life is complicated” - always resonate as true. I miss him and his vibrancy. May his memory be a blessing. My deepest condolences to Jerry, and everyone who knew Jeff.
Penny Rosen, New York, NY (AAPCSW Past President)
