In Memoriam

M.W. Johnny Faust 1912-2001 Founding President 1966-1969

C. Bruce Grossman 1921-2001 Founding Director 1967-1988

Robert C. Watters, Jr. 1945-2001 Intern, 1982-1983

Philip Perez 1961-2001 Intern, 1995-1996

The Contributions of C. Bruce Grossman
From 1967 to 1989, C. Bruce Grossman, M.S.S.A., Founding Director of Marriage and Family Counseling Service, served n various capacities in the AAMFT. During his term as Chair of Supervision Committee, Grossman and the Committee drafted standards and procedures for the post-degree training of marital and family therapists through the Illinois Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (1970-1973), served as secretary of the AAMFT Board of Directors (1979-1980), as a member of the National Advisory Committee (1986-1988). In 1972, Mr. Grossman was honored by AAMFT for his outstanding contribution to the field of marriage and family therapy by receiving the honorary designation of Fellow. In 1989, the Illinois Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Award for his pioneering work in the field of marriage and family therapy. After his retirement in 1989, Mr. Grossman continued to volunteer his services as a family therapist at the agency until 1992. Even then, he continued to take an active interest in the agency and, especially, in the residents, past and present. After an extended illness, Mr. Grossman died on May 14, 2001.

Merrit W. Johnny Faust became the President of the Steering Committee which was charged by the Rock Island County Welfare Council to assess what unmet needs for the counseling of families were not being met by existing community programs. On April 27, 1967, Mr. Faust became the Founding President of the Marriage and Family Counseling Service’s Board of Directors and under his direction the current mission of the agency was developed and brought into operation. Mr. Faust served as Founding President for 3 years and continued to support the programs in many ways, especially in securing grant funding for the program. He was considered the “Father” of the agency through his continued interest in the program.

Robert Watters was an intern at the agency in 1982-83 and had a private practice in the same office building until his untimely death in 2001.

Philip Perez was an intern at the agency in 1995-96 and following completing of his internship, worked in Miami before his untimely death in 2001.