Lasting Memories

George Franklin Hexter
May 23, 1928-May 23, 2007
Portola Valley, California

Dr. George Franklin Hexter died of cancer at the Hospice Care Center of the VA Hospital in Palo Alto on May 23, his 79th birthday.

Born in Chicago, Dr. Hexter grew up in Southern California. He attended UCLA and, in his junior year, transferred to Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where he received a bachelor's degree.

He graduated from Stanford University School of Medicine in 1956 and completed residencies in adult and child psychiatry.

He served as a lieutenant and a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy from 1959 to 1962 and afterward was a fellow at the Child Study Center at Yale University.

In 1963 Dr. Hexter and his family returned to the area, living in Palo Alto and, later, Portola Valley. He taught in the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine while maintaining a private practice on the Peninsula.

In 1997, as clinical professor, emeritus, Dr. Hexter received an award for excellence in teaching from the graduating fellows in the school's Division of Child Psychiatry and Child Development.

An active member of both the California and Northern California psychiatric societies, Dr. Hexter was elected a Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association in 1992. At his bedside in April of this year, he received the President's Award for Meritorious Service from the California Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and the Northern California Regional Organization of Child Psychiatry.

Dr. Hexter was a respected colleague and a gifted teacher and mentor, friends said. They added that he played an important role in helping child psychiatry in California argue for public policy decisions regarding spending in the field of mental health.

Family members said he was known for his gentle humor and wit, especially the doggerel verses he composed for annual holidays. He loved to travel and play poker, and spent his retirement years making ceramics and wood sculptures, a hobby he had enjoyed since adolescence.

He is survived by his wife, Priscilla Romans Hexter; daughters Madeleine Hexter of San Francisco and Melissa Hexter of San Carlos; a brother, Richard J. Hexter of Houston, Texas; and two grandchildren.