Renowned New Orleans psychiatrist who is married to former WWLTV anchor and WWL Radio host, Angela Hill, has died.
Dr. Irwin Marcus passed away Sunday at the incredible age of 102.
Hill described her husband as having vitality that amazed people. She tells WWLTV, Dr. Marcus was a good listener, which suited him in his profession.
“He understood people so well and was such a good listener that people were comfortable confiding in him,” Hill said. “That – combined with his fascination with the brain, human behavior, and the importance of relationships – gave him a tremendous ability to help people. He was born to do what he did.”
Dr. Marcus earned respect in his profession for his role in establishing a psychiatric program for children and adolescents at Tulane University School of Medicine.
He began his life in New Orleans after moving from New York in 1951 after he was recruited to establish the Tulane program.
Dr. Marcus also founded the New Orleans Psychoanalytic Institute, is the former chairman of the psychiatric department at Touro Infirmary, and a clinical professor at Louisiana State University Medical School.
He was born in Chicago on March 18, 1919. He put himself through college at the Illinois Institute of Technology during the Great Depression and later studied at the University of Illinois School of Medicine before doing his medical residency at Chicago’s largest hospital, Cook County Hospital.
“He would go back to visit with patients after his shift had ended, just to check on them, ask how they were doing and learn more about them as people,” Hill tells WWLTV. “Other doctors questioned him for that, but to me it was so emblematic of the empathy and care he had for his patients, believing that being a doctor is about more than just treating someone’s medical condition.”
Dr. Marcus is survived by his wife Angela Hill and his three children; Dr. Randall Marcus, Sherry Leventhal, and Melinda Marcus; eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. His family will hold a private funeral service.