Obituary: Ken Libertoff, 1945-2024

This was written by Ken Libertoff: After
living a full life, Ken Libertoff is at rest after 79 years of
adventures, achievements, some disappointments, but uplifted with the
belief that he made a difference.

Ken was born in
Brooklyn, N.Y., on January 16, 1945. His mother, Lillian Libertoff,
lived in New York City until age 92, when she moved to Westview
Meadows in Montpelier. She passed away in 2016, age 95. Ken’s
father, Wilford Libertoff, also a native of Brooklyn, died when Ken
was 12 years old.

Ken is survived by
Sarah Hofmann, Ken’s wife and best friend, whom he married later in
life. Together they forged a full and happy union. Besides sharing
loving children and grandchildren, they took pride in both having
rewarding but different careers, and along the way, shared many
friends and acquaintances. They were avid bike travelers with
frequent visits to rail trails in Vermont and elsewhere, finding
bikes in such diverse places as Maine, Florida, New Mexico, Wyoming
and California. Combining a love for adventure with life on the road,
they also managed to travel to and bike in Canada, France, Italy,
Spain, South Africa and Scandinavia.

Ken is survived by
his son Jamie Libertoff of Albuquerque, N.M., who always made his
father very proud. Jamie has been a social worker for many years,
helping people with behavioral health disorders. Jamie’s two
children, Fiorella Gamio of Queens, N.Y., and Rodrigo Sarmiento of
Albuquerque, N.M., were shining stars in Ken’s constellation, as
were Sarah’s children John Mullett of Vermont and Layne Mullett of
Pennsylvania, along with their loving partners. Mireya Ortiz, Jamie’s
kind and caring partner, also lives in Albuquerque, N.M., with
Mireya’s son, Zahir.

Ken greatly valued
his younger sister, Karen Harrington, and his brother-in-law, Leo
Harrrington, of West Hartford, Conn. He also leaves behind his
nephews and Sarah’s brother and sisters.

Ken is also survived
by Jamie’s Mother and former wife, Janet Ryan, of Florida. He also
was fortunate to have wives and partners with women who were “way
above average,” including Gabrielle Dietzel and Trish O’Regan of
Montpelier, Vt.

Ken was a proud
graduate of Public School 114 and Junior High School 198 in Queens.
His boyhood memories included countless games of stoop and stickball
and hours of basketball on the streets of Rockaway and Brooklyn. His
first job, at age 14, was at the popular Bogianno’s Bar and Grill,
where he manned the nighttime outdoor hamburger and hotdog stand for
a dollar an hour.

Ken graduated from
Far Rockaway High School in 1962. While his academic record was
modest, he made his mark on the basketball court and served as team
captain during his junior and senior years. He was named to the
All-Queens basketball team in his senior year.

Ken enrolled at the
University of Connecticut. Given his less-than-stellar academic high
school record, he was accepted “on academic probation” at UConn.
This status, it was reported, caused his mother great stress. He was
a proud member of several outstanding UConn Husky basketball teams,
including the 1964 squad which made it to the Elite 8 NCAA
tournament. Ken was an English major in college and slowly but
steadily matured as a student. In an effort to pad his grade point
average, Ken was told about an easy course, so he signed up for an
introductory plant science class. Arriving for the class, Ken
discovered that it was devoted to the art of flower arranging, and
that he was the only male student in a group of nearly twenty
students.

After college, Ken
stayed at UConn and served as the freshman basketball coach in 1967.
However, after reflection, Ken shifted his priorities and committed
himself to social activism. Thus, he moved to New Haven, Conn., and
served as an assistant to a young radical Yale University psychology
professor, Ira Goldenberg. Over the course of several years, Ken
worked with troubled teenagers, while also crafting services and
programs as part of the War on Poverty. He also was asked to provide
workshops within the Yale Department of Psychology.

With added maturity
and life experience, Ken applied to graduate school at Harvard
University, and in a startling development, he was accepted. He
received his PhD in 1978 in clinical psychology and public practice,
and it was reported that his mother was most pleased. During his
graduate career, Ken was awarded numerous National Institute of
Mental Health scholarships while writing his dissertation on the
subject of runaway children.

Ken moved to Vermont
in 1976, and, while still writing his dissertation, he served as the
director with the relatively new Washington County Youth Services
Bureau. In 1981, Ken was named the director of the Vermont
Association for Mental Health, a post he maintained for 30 years.
While working as a citizen advocate in this position, he was engaged
in many facets of legislative advocacy on many health and human
service issues. Among his achievements was his leadership in the
passing of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Bill in 1997.
This landmark legislation was viewed as the new national model and
standard and included a mandate for all insurance policies sold
within the state to cover both mental health and substance abuse
conditions at parity with physical conditions. Another piece of
legislation that had considerable national attention was a bill
passed in Vermont in 2009, which banned gifts from the pharmaceutical
industry to Vermont’s medical community, including hospitals. This
legislation also set a national standard that was replicated in many
other states. During his tenure, he was known as a fierce advocate
for consumer empowerment, innovative children’s services and
leadership in building recovery centers throughout the state. Ken
lectured or consulted in more than 30 states, as well as at the
Sorbonne in Paris. He also served as an advisor in South Africa,
where he worked with indigenous community groups, business leaders,
government officials and other advocacy organizations throughout the
country.

Ken received
considerable recognition, including the Lifetime Legendary Leadership
Award from Mental Health America, but he was most proud of his award
at Public School 114, when, in sixth grade, he was recognized with
the highly valued Good Eater Award.

Those who worked
with Ken and those who had occasion to oppose his efforts might all
agree that he was a vigorous and spirited advocate, one who could be
both sharp in opinion but quick with wit and humor.

After retiring in
2010, Ken continued to serve as a consultant, traveled to New Mexico
frequently on family visits, traveled abroad and refined his tennis
game with a cadre of tennis buddies. He was a loyal member of the
Vermont Tree Committee and an avid gardener. It might be said that at
age 74, Ken stumbled into a new endeavor and adventure when he signed
up for a couple of free writing classes on a whim. He had no design,
plan or thought about becoming a writer. Several local writers urged
Ken to sign up for a more formalized writing group at the Montpelier
activity senior center, specifically mentioning one of the group
leaders named Maggie Thompson. Under her guidance and support, Ken
wrote his memoir in short story and essay form and was thrilled when
a few appeared in the Montpelier Bridge and the
Barre-Montpelier Times Argus. Last year, Rootstock Publishing
of Montpelier agreed to publish a collection of his work under the
title Snapshots of a Life. Ken launched his book on January
20, 2024, just days after his 79th birthday.

A celebration of
life will be held in the spring. As much as Ken loved flowers, if you
wish to honor Ken’s memory, please contribute to the Central Vermont Refugee Action Network or the Montpelier
Tree Board through the Montpelier Foundation to purchase trees for the city.

This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2024.