Alan S. Prager, M.D.

Alan S. Prager, MD, of Waban and Wellfleet, MA died on August 29, 2013 at the age of 87 from complications of Alzheimer’s. Beloved by his family, he leaves his wife Jane, daughter Laura, her husband Frederick Millham and their children Samuel and Lucia; daughter Sarah, her husband Steven Smith and their children Benjamin, Jessica, and Nathan; daughter Margaret, her husband, William Paine and their children David and Susannah; sister, Ruth Zachary, nephews Andrew and Michael Zachary, and niece Eve Zachary Mykytyn.

Born in Boston, Dr. Prager attended the Boston Latin School, Hebrew College, and Harvard College. While enrolled at Harvard Business School, he served as a lieutenant in the Navy during WWII. When he left the service, he studied philosophy at the Sorbonne, but then decided on a career in medicine and completed his pre-medical studies at the University of Chicago before ultimately returning to Boston to attend Boston University School of Medicine. He was a true renaissance man. Fluent in both French and Hebrew, he studied economic theory and political philosophy, and loved poetry, music and history. Always interested in the processes of child development, he trained in psychiatry at Boston State Hospital and then in child psychiatry at Children’s Hospital, Boston. A masterful clinician-educator with an appointment at Harvard Medical School, he served on the faculty at the Judge Baker Children’s Center, in the Department of Child Psychiatry at Children’s Hospital, Boston, and as a lecturer at Simmons College. His family, friends, patients, supervisees and psychiatric colleagues sought his wise counsel and admired his joy in learning, his wit, fondness for puns and silly jokes, his broad, infectious, enveloping smile, and his amazing ability to understand and connect with people, particularly children.

Services at Temple Israel, 477 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA on Sunday, September 1, 2013 at 10:30 AM. Burial will be private.

Memorial observance will be held on Sunday, September 1, 2013 from 2-7 PM and Monday, September 2, 2013 from 4-8 PM at the home of Laura Prager and Frederick Millham, 8 Pilgrim Road, Waban, MA.

Donations in Dr. Prager’s honor may be made to “Stand for Children Massachusetts, 38 Chauncy Street, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02110, Attn: Laura Gardner.