Judith S. Seixas, 94
Judith Sartorius Seixas, a psychologist who wrote two well-received books on the treatment of alcoholism and was a Springs summer resident since the 1950s, died on Nov. 2 at Sunrise of Weston in Weston, Mass. She was 94.
Dr. Seixas and her late husband, Dr. Frank A. Seixas, were groundbreaking advocates in the field of alcoholism. The first of three children born to Irving Sartorius and the former Edythe Carr, she was 8 when the family moved to Harrison, N.Y. She graduated from the Fieldston School, not far away in Riverdale, and from Carleton College in Minnesota, and held an M.S. in psychology from Columbia University.
The Seixases were introduced at a dinner party by a mutual friend and married in 1946 after he returned from wartime service with the Navy. They lived in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., with their three children, who are Peter Seixas of Vancouver, Canada; Abby Seixas Horowitz of Weston, and Noah Seixas of Seattle.
Dr. Seixas wrote “Children of Alcoholism: A Survivors Manual” in 1985, and a book for young readers, “Alcoholism: What It Is, What It Does,” in 1977.
The couple’s house in Springs was on Gerard Drive, with beautiful views of Gardiner’s Bay and Accabonac Harbor. Their mother “delighted in lobster dinners,” her children said, “and skinny-dipping in Gardiner’s Bay whenever the coast was clear.” Over the years, they said, she “presided with grace and good humor as matriarch to her adult children and their families, who filled the house to overflowing for many summers.” She enjoyed chatting with local artists, Pollock and de Kooning among them, who would stop by on their way to paint at the point.
She was a cultured, educated, worldly woman who took great pride in being able to speak French with a Parisian accent, said the family, and often hosted visiting students from France, as well as the Seychelle Islands, Curacao, and the Deep South, on cultural exchanges. An accomplished flutist, she also presided over a biweekly chamber music group in the family living room in Hastings-on-Hudson.
In addition to her children, she leaves six grandchildren, one great-grandchild, a sister, Brenda Engel of Cambridge, Mass., and five half siblings.
The family has suggested that donations in Dr. Seixas’s memory be directed to the Accabonac Preservation Committee, 956 Springs-Fireplace Road, East Hampton 11937. A celebration of her life is planned for early next year.