1926
Roger
2020
Roger Bibace
March 4, 1926 — July 19, 2020
Roger's funeral service can be viewed at this link:
https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/60535189
WORCESTER - After several years of declining health, Roger Bibace died on July 19th, 2020; he was at home with the love of his life at his side. It was a few days before their 60th wedding anniversary.
Born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1926, Roger attended Victoria College before traveling to Vancouver, where in 1949 he received his B.A. with Honors in Psychology from the University of British Columbia. Afterwards, he moved to Worcester, MA, where he received his PhD in Psychology from Clark University.
Roger joined the Clark faculty as a lecturer in 1957, and served in the roles of Assistant and Associate Professor before earning a full professorship in 1970. He remained at Clark until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 2006.
While his wide-ranging career was grounded at Clark, he applied his insatiable intellectual curiosity across a variety of academic institutions and programs in psychology and medicine, working to connect psychological theory with the ordinary lives of people.
Roger joined the fledgling UMass Department of Family Practice in 1976 as its part time Director for Behavioral Science. He reveled in the opportunity to spend time in the exam room to learn how doctors interact with their patients, taking copious notes – verbatim transcripts of the interactions - on yellow legal pads. He set out for the Family Health Centers, where he observed resident-patient interactions, reviewing his notes with the residents after the visit. He recruited additional psychologists to the faculty, assuring that a focus on the doctor-patient relationship remained front-and-center for the developing specialty. He was a major driver in the establishment of the Department’s faculty Balint Group, which continues today in its fifth decade.
Roger served in several capacities at Worcester State Hospital, including as a Psychologist, as Director of Training for the hospital’s pre- and post-doctoral program in clinical psychology (1957-65), and as a clinical consultant to Psychiatry residents (1965-74). He served as a consultant to the Worcester Public Schools, focusing on improving collaboration between teachers and psychologists. He was a consulting research psychologist at Montreal Children’s Hospital and served as a consultant to the Worcester Police Department, the Judge Baker Guidance Clinic in Boston, and the Boston VA Hospital in Jamaica Plain.
He was active on a variety of committees and workgroups at the American Psychological Association, including work as Chair or as a member of site evaluation teams for doctoral programs in clinical psychology.
Roger’s colleagues remember him for his extraordinary enthusiasm for his work, his voracious appetite for ideas, and his above-and-beyond approach to mentoring his students, even after his retirement. As a research scientist and a clinical practitioner he was guided by the maxim: “Thinking without doing is empty. Doing without thinking is meaningless.”
Though Roger’s professional accomplishments were numerous, he was, first and foremost, a devoted husband, a caring father, and a doting grandfather. His love for his family was unconditional; he was constantly in search of new ways to make them smile. Survived by his wife Ruth; their three children, Amy, Sandy and Mark; five grandchildren — Sarah, Emma, Sam, Haleigh, and Zach — and two great grandchildren, Noa and Evie, he leaves his family with fond memories of time spent together at their Yarmouthport summer home. There, on many a lazy summer evening, he would gleefully share a fresh pint of Lemon Crisp ice cream (his perennial favorite); unwrap a frozen Kit-Kat bar; and inhale back-to-back tennis matches as the sound of his famous whistle — that frequently-heard signal of an interesting discovery, an impressive feat, or an overheard “zinger” — pierced the air.
A private service was held for Roger’s family on July 21st, 2020. Any who wish to donate in his honor may do so to Roger’s alma mater, Clark University or Temple Emanuel Sinai.
To share a memory or to offer an online condolence, please visit the "Tribute Wall" on this page.
WORCESTER - After several years of declining health, Roger Bibace died on July 19th, 2020; he was at home with the love of his life at his side. It was a few days before their 60th wedding anniversary.
Born in Alexandria, Egypt in 1926, Roger attended Victoria College before traveling to Vancouver, where in 1949 he received his B.A. with Honors in Psychology from the University of British Columbia. Afterwards, he moved to Worcester, MA, where he received his PhD in Psychology from Clark University.
Roger joined the Clark faculty as a lecturer in 1957, and served in the roles of Assistant and Associate Professor before earning a full professorship in 1970. He remained at Clark until his retirement as Professor Emeritus in 2006.
While his wide-ranging career was grounded at Clark, he applied his insatiable intellectual curiosity across a variety of academic institutions and programs in psychology and medicine, working to connect psychological theory with the ordinary lives of people.
Roger joined the fledgling UMass Department of Family Practice in 1976 as its part time Director for Behavioral Science. He reveled in the opportunity to spend time in the exam room to learn how doctors interact with their patients, taking copious notes – verbatim transcripts of the interactions - on yellow legal pads. He set out for the Family Health Centers, where he observed resident-patient interactions, reviewing his notes with the residents after the visit. He recruited additional psychologists to the faculty, assuring that a focus on the doctor-patient relationship remained front-and-center for the developing specialty. He was a major driver in the establishment of the Department’s faculty Balint Group, which continues today in its fifth decade.
Roger served in several capacities at Worcester State Hospital, including as a Psychologist, as Director of Training for the hospital’s pre- and post-doctoral program in clinical psychology (1957-65), and as a clinical consultant to Psychiatry residents (1965-74). He served as a consultant to the Worcester Public Schools, focusing on improving collaboration between teachers and psychologists. He was a consulting research psychologist at Montreal Children’s Hospital and served as a consultant to the Worcester Police Department, the Judge Baker Guidance Clinic in Boston, and the Boston VA Hospital in Jamaica Plain.
He was active on a variety of committees and workgroups at the American Psychological Association, including work as Chair or as a member of site evaluation teams for doctoral programs in clinical psychology.
Roger’s colleagues remember him for his extraordinary enthusiasm for his work, his voracious appetite for ideas, and his above-and-beyond approach to mentoring his students, even after his retirement. As a research scientist and a clinical practitioner he was guided by the maxim: “Thinking without doing is empty. Doing without thinking is meaningless.”
Though Roger’s professional accomplishments were numerous, he was, first and foremost, a devoted husband, a caring father, and a doting grandfather. His love for his family was unconditional; he was constantly in search of new ways to make them smile. Survived by his wife Ruth; their three children, Amy, Sandy and Mark; five grandchildren — Sarah, Emma, Sam, Haleigh, and Zach — and two great grandchildren, Noa and Evie, he leaves his family with fond memories of time spent together at their Yarmouthport summer home. There, on many a lazy summer evening, he would gleefully share a fresh pint of Lemon Crisp ice cream (his perennial favorite); unwrap a frozen Kit-Kat bar; and inhale back-to-back tennis matches as the sound of his famous whistle — that frequently-heard signal of an interesting discovery, an impressive feat, or an overheard “zinger” — pierced the air.
A private service was held for Roger’s family on July 21st, 2020. Any who wish to donate in his honor may do so to Roger’s alma mater, Clark University or Temple Emanuel Sinai.
To share a memory or to offer an online condolence, please visit the "Tribute Wall" on this page.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Roger Bibace, please visit our flower store.
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