Saturday, January 11, 2020, with his children at his side. His beloved wife,
Mary Robinson Mehlman, passed away four years earlier.
Ben was born February 29, 1924 in Brooklyn, New York City to the late Harry and
Minnie (Breitman) Mehlman, one of three children (Lillian and Benjamin, twins,
and the younger Harriet). He is survived by his son Marc Mehlman, his son Rick
Mehlman and wife Maureen Cavanaugh and their two children Michael and Rachel,
daughter Barbara Mehlman, and his twin sister Lilian Helf.
Ben grew up in Brooklyn surrounded with his extended family. He graduated high
school at age 16 as valedictorian. After graduating from Brooklyn College with
a bachelors degree in Psychology he served during World War II as a Sargent in
the Army (artillery). Upon his discharge, he attended Syracuse University where
he met his wife, Mary, and earned his doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology.
He was an Associate Professor at Kent State University before taking a job with
the National Institute of Health for two years. In 1962 he became a Professor
at the California State University Northridge, where he would remain until his
retirement in 1992.
Ben was very much a polymath all his life. As a teenager he would study fellow
passengers on the subway, trying to figure out the details of their personal
lives (no wonder he went on to become a psychologist). He had a deep knowledge
of psychology, world history, religion, sociology and literature. He was also
very much an independent thinker. He loved books - so much so that his loving
wife, also an intellectual, would complain about him acquiring new books because
there was nowhere in the house left to store them!
He was more than a passive observer of the world. He gave many well received
talks to academic, political, civic and religious audiences on topics such as
finding meaning in life, psychology, lessons history has taught us,
antisemitism, self-hate and racial quotas. He wrote thousands of letters to
politicians and letters-to-the-editors, many of them answered or published. He
was a prolific writer and the author of unpublished books on antisemitism and
race relations along with numerous works of fiction. Mary and Ben were members
of numerous book clubs and discussion groups that examined the latest trends in
politics, literature and movies. They had a myriad of close and interesting
friends.
Ben was a family man - a loving husband and devoted father. He loved visiting
Europe, Israel and Japan with his family, and later, when his children were busy
with their own lives, with Mary. He was a kind man. Perhaps his greatest
strength was his ability to size up and understand those around him. He was
well-liked and admired by those who knew him. While he managed to lead his life
on his own terms and was quite self-aware, he was not self-absorbed but rather
attentive to the lives of those he loved. His creativity, intelligence,
courage, discipline, emotional stability and an ability to empathize made an
oversized and positive difference in the lives of those who knew him.
Services were held at Groman Eden Mortuary and officiated by Rabbi Ron Hauss.
He joined his much missed wife in Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside,
California.
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