Passing of Fred Meservey

A deeply heartfelt goodbye from Glenn Liebman in honor of his friend and colleague, Fred Meservey.  

We just lost one of the outstanding leaders in our field in the passing this weekend of  Fred Meservey. For those of you who didn’t know Fred, he was a senior level state official for many years, holding high level jobs at the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse and Council of Children and Families.  Later on Fred came out of retirement to become the first director of the Suicide Prevention Center of New York. In all his roles, as his colleagues can attest to, he took his work very seriously and was able to help develop and implement transformative person centered programs that had a real impact to people’s lives. His collegialty and team spirt were also legendary—treating everyone with the same level of dignity and respect whether a Commissioner or a clerk.

I only got to know him when he became head of the Suicide Prevention Center of New York. He took a newly crafted position and with his talented team created one of the nation’s most innovative suicide prevention programs. Fred became an expert at the national level as well, testifying before Congress and helping to create policies changes through his role with National Suicide Prevention organizations. He had great credibility at both the State and National Level.

We would frequently meet about suicide prevention and I was struck, like anyone who knew him was, with his intellect, lack of pretense and deeply held passion for people with disabilities.

However, for me personally, the best part was that we became friends. We bonded on our mutual love of  baseball and music.  His passion for the Yankees was tireless through good and bad times. A matter of fact the only people I ever heard him speak ill of were Red Sox fans. For the most part we Mets fans got a pass. One of my favorite traditions of recent years was when Fred, Gary O’Brien and I would do our annual pilgrimage to a Valley Cats game.

Once when we were at a suicide prevention walk, I mentioned to him that I kept a list of my Top 100 Songs of all-time. Well before I knew it, he gave me his Top 100, his Top 500 and not joking his Top 5000. He also gave me his top 20 songs that started with the letter G for Glenn and the letter F for Fred, his Top 50 Summer Songs, his Top 500 Albums, etc. His lists were endless and then our follow up debates about the songs were just as much fun. He would rip me for my love of the groups Boston and the Outlaws.  Of course, like with everything else, his knowledge vastly outweighed mine and he had songs on all these lists I never knew existed.

But the side of Fred, I  will miss the most is the  soul  of the advocate that he was for anyone who was in need. His losing of his first wife to sucide completion made him the strongest and most compassionate of advocates for the cause of suicide prevention. After his retirement, he served on both the MHANYS board and the AFSP board. In those capacities, he made it clear how important sucide prevention should be as part of public policy. He tirelessly worked for the cause and much of the positive in regard to things like the Zero Suicide Initiative, that we have seen in recent years, is a direct reflection of Fred’s efforts.

I would also be remiss if I did not mention  that he was a man who had time for everyone in need.  His openly sharing his personal loss (as detailed in the NYS Suicide Prevention Plan) made it easier for people who have had sucide loss in their own lives to share their stories with him. There were so many people helped by the sharing of his story and then following up with all who wanted to share their own story with him. He had time for everyone no matter the hour or the day.

My friend Fred leaves behind a wonderful family including his loving wife Penny, his two sons, his two step children, his two grandchildren, his daughter in law and his siblings, but he also leaves behind the countless number of us who were touched by his remarkable journey.

My final wish for Fred is that they have baseball in heaven so that he can watch the Yankees 24/7 while listening to his 80 thousand album/CD collection. God Bless My Friend.

Glenn Liebman, CEO
Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc.
194 Washington Avenue Suite 415
Albany, NY  12210
[email protected]

 

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