Judianne Densen-Gerber
Psychiatrist and Lawyer
Judianne Densen-Gerber, 68, a psychiatrist and lawyer who founded Odyssey House, a controversial treatment center and program for drug addicts, died of cancer May 11 in New York. She lived in Westport, Conn.
Soon after she founded the program in 1967, she won the support of top New York officials, including Gov. Nelson Rockefeller and New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch. The program expanded through the 1970s with centers in New England, Louisiana, Michigan, Utah and Nevada, as well as New Zealand and Australia. Dr. Densen-Gerber also launched an affiliated treatment program for addicted mothers.
Her authoritarian management tactics and extravagant lifestyle, in addition to financial troubles at Odyssey House, cast a shadow over her work. Although her drug-free treatment for recovering addicts gained wide support, the group-therapy tactics were criticized. A state investigation showing irregularities in her use of public funds for the program led her to resign in 1981.
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Thomas C. Gordon Jr.
Virginia Supreme Court Justice
Thomas C. Gordon Jr., 87, an associate justice from 1965 to 1972 on what is now the Virginia Supreme Court, died May 17 at an assisted-living facility in Mechanicsville, Va. The cause of death was not reported.
Mr. Gordon, a graduate of the University of Virginia and its law school, retired in 1981 as a partner at McGuireWoods in Richmond and maintained an office there. He specialized in corporate law.
He also was a painter and had sold paintings of leopards, tigers and pandas for nearly $1,000 each. He had exhibits statewide.
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