DR. BRUCE KELLERHOUSE

NEW YORK, N.Y.- Dr. Bruce Kellerhouse, an internationally recognized psychologist, educator and researcher whose professional activities focused on the unique needs and concerns of HIV-positive and negative gay men, died Dec. 14, 2020, in New York City of complications related to ALS. He was 67. Born on May 19, 1953, in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Dr Kellerhouse graduated from Saugerties High School in 1971, then graduated from SUNY at Albany with degrees in English and theater education, then earned an MFA in theater education from Trinity University in Dallas, Texas. He returned to New York, where he was the director of special events at the South Street Seaport before turning to counseling psychology. He began his graduate studies at NYU in 1989, receiving his PhD in 1996, and maintaining an independent psychotherapy practice from 1998 on. Friends and family remember Bruce as a compassionate, generous, and kind person, with a wry sense of humor, a love of travel, and a “take-charge” attitude. In addition to his many professional achievements, Bruce was known for his love of the arts and of singing, and for his clear, sweet Irish tenor voice. Survivors include his mother, Joan Cramer, and sister, Devora Fleshler, both of Portland, Ore.; nieces Shoshana Fleshler of Prescott, Ariz., Julia Tzarfati, Israel, and Eva Edleson, Eugene, Ore.; and many beloved friends and acquaintances. He was predeceased by his father, Bob Kellerhouse, of Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., and nephew, Yefim Fleshler, of Portland, Ore. Memorial donations may be made to The ALS Association, http://www.als-ny.org