Kevin Joseph Lourie, 55

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PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Lourie family has suddenly and tragically lost a son, a brother, a father and uncle in the unexpected passing of Kevin Joseph Lourie. Kevin died at his home in Providence on Aug. 8.

 

Kevin was born in New York City in 1961 to Anitra and Dan Lourie, lived for 10 years in Houston, Texas, where he had his bar mitzvah in 1974, before moving to Orono, Maine. He finished elementary and high school in Orono, where he was a nationally ranked debater; Kevin and his partner ranked eighth in the country in their senior year.

He taught for two years at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, becoming an in-demand expert on Middle Eastern politics and conflicts. He spoke fluent Hebrew and Russian. It was there that he met and married his first wife, Maria, a recent Russian emigre, and the mother of his daughter, Anitra.

He received an undergraduate degree at Hampshire College and a master’s and doctorate in cultural anthropology at Brown University. He utilized that education to help improve the lives of impoverished Providence citizens and young jail inmates through community outreach as a faculty member in the pediatric department at Brown University. He wrote extensively about his studies and community activities and those writings are still available to students, faculty, and the public.

Kevin simultaneously continued his studies, acquiring another degree, in psychotherapy, after which he launched his own career helping young people with emotional difficulties.

He had significant adventures throughout his education, most notably six months of research in London, living with – and subsequently writing about – heroin addicts and their difficulties.

Kevin was an avid hiker. He was determined to stay in shape, whether in the gym, on mountain paths, or running road races with the family – always stepping back at the finish line so his dad could beat him by a yard.

Kevin was a loving single dad, steering his daughter, Anitra (Anya) to an adulthood that is not only successful academically, socially and economically, but imbued with high moral standards.

Kevin was predeceased by his mother, Anitra. He is survived by a daughter, Anitra (Anya) Lourie, sister Stephani Lourie, father Dan Lourie, stepmother Tyrrell Lourie, sister-in-law Claire Craig, nephew Isaac Lourie, many cousins and too many friends to count.

Please make contributions in his memory to National Alliance in Mental Illness (NAMRI).