In Memoriam: Two of Milwaukee’s Finest Psychiatrists, Jon Gudeman, MD, and Scott Sandage, MD

PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

Milwaukee was long famous for their beers, eliciting the new Brew City, but the old breweries have moved on. Milwaukee has also had famous psychiatrists, including Herzl Spiro, whom I did a prior eulogy on, who have passed on. Most recently, we lost 2 more of our finest.

Jon Gudeman, MD

I knew Jon well, as he preceded me by a few years in coming to Milwaukee and the Medical College of Wisconsin. My personal knowledge helped with this eulogy since, surprisingly, there has been very limited obituary material to pull from. He died on August 24, 2025, at the age of 89 while living in Florida after his retirement. While there, he enjoyed building model trains and creating memories with his grandchildren.

He came to Milwaukee to head the county mental health system that previously Dr Spiro had led. It was a challenging position given the influence of county politics and financial limitations, complicated with a relationship and partnership with the academic goals of the Medical College of Wisconsin. What were once state-of-the-art facilities on the grounds of a medical complex were torn down and the system has moved to reestablish itself.

Prior to coming to Milwaukee, Dr Gudeman had been president of the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society. While in Massachusetts, he also played jazz drums and enjoyed canoeing.

Scott Sandage, MD

Dr Sandage I did not know personally, as he came to Milwaukee in 2015 to become an associate professor and I had retired from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2012. He was a child and adolescent psychiatrist while I was an adult one. But we had similar interests in the cultural aspects of psychiatry, as he did research in the South Pacific, South America, and consultation for refugees in the United States. Besides that, he consulted in numerous schools and residential treatment programs. He was known for wearing Hawaiian shirts, as do I. Unfortunately, he died suddenly at the age of 72.

Our field and patients were better from their presence.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He presented the third Rabbi Jeffrey B. Stiffman lecture at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis on Sunday, May 19, 2024. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.