Anthony (Tony) Joel Gribin was a loving husband, father, brother-in-law, and friend. He was born in Manhattan to the late Doris (Tauber) Gribin and Jack Gribin on February 21, 1946. Soon after, he moved with his parents to Forest Hills, where he lived until he married Gloria Drossman in 1969.
Tony graduated from City College of New York with a BS in Psychology and earned his MS in Psychology from Queens College while teaching math in the NYC public schools. He earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Delaware.
After interning at Children’s Psychiatric Center in Eatontown, New Jersey, he started his more than 40 year clinical psychology career at Morristown Memorial Hospital as Director of Community Outreach where he provided training for the Morristown Police Force and other police and local agencies. He also established private practices in Morristown and Long Branch/Oakhurst. He was beloved by his clients, and he published humorous, common-sense advice in one of the earliest of his 18 books, You’re Not Nuts, You’ve Just Got Issues.
However, his true passion and notoriety as an author were from his three comprehensive reviews (written with Dr. Matthew Schiff) of Doo Wop music, considered by many as an authoritative voice on the subject.
Tony was a wizard at all word puzzles, rarely leaving a NY Times crossword puzzle incomplete, as well as an accomplished athlete who loved to play basketball, golf, and his favorite, beach volleyball. He was also an outstanding bridge player during his early 20s. After an almost 40 year hiatus, he took up the game again, and he achieved the level of Life Master along with his wife Gloria in February 2021.
Tony will be missed but never forgotten by his family and myriad friends.
He passed at his home in Ocean Township, New Jersey on March 26, 2021, after a valiant 16 month bout with mesothelioma. Tony is survived by his wife Gloria from New Jersey; his children (and their partners): Jesse Gribin and his wife, Audrey Haas, Sara Gribin and her partner Dennis Halas; his sister-in-law Rhona and her fiancée Alan Reinhardt from New York; his brother-in-law Howard and his wife Julie from Colorado; his nephews Adam Malitz (and his wife Nicole) and Skyler Drossman; his niece, Sierra Drossman; and his great-nephew Jack Malitz. He is predeceased by his father and mother in law, Stanley Drossman and his godparents, Jess and Florence Glick.
The family is requesting that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to either:
Congregation Torat-El
301Monmouth Road
Oakhurst, NJ 07755
or
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Online donations may be made using the following link:
http://mskcc.convio.net/goto/AnthonyGribin
Checks made payable to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, should be mailed to:
Attention: Leadership Giving Programs
Attn: Leadership Giving Programs
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Office of Development
PO Box 27106
New York, NY 10087
Please indicate on the check memo line that the gift is in memory of Anthony Gribin
