Dr. Timothy McCartney, noted psychologist, dies at 87

Dr. Timothy Osborne McCartney, revered Bahamian clinical psychologist and professor emeritus, died early Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after a battle with COVID-19, his family said.

He was 87.

Myrtle McCartney, his sister-in-law, said his battle with the coronavirus “was very rough”.

Particularly in his final days, McCartney experienced severe trouble breathing.

McCartney was born in Nassau and had a long list of noteworthy accomplishments throughout his life.

His longtime friend and colleague, prominent psychiatrist Dr. Michael Neville, said he was devastated by the news of McCartney’s death and described him as “a truly amazing Bahamian”.

“We had an amazing relationship,” Neville recalled. 

He said he had hoped his friend would survive COVID.

“As I was speaking to him in hospital, it was becoming harder and harder for him to breathe, so I was anticipating it,” he said. “And again, it’s such an awful reminder for us all that COVID takes our friends as well.”

Neville said he last spoke with McCartney two days before his death.

“He was breathless,” he recalled. “For both of us, it was very emotional.”

Neville said McCartney had a kind of brilliance that went largely unrecognized.

“He was stunningly brilliant,” said Neville, who had a business relationship with McCartney that spanned more than 20 years.

The two started a drug treatment program for cocaine addicts at St. Augustine’s Monastery.

The program was a success and they went on to work together many more years.

Asked how he will best remember his friend, Neville said, “I think the enjoyment, the laughter. That’s why he was such a good teacher. He had the ability to make people laugh and listen. That was such a skill. A lot of learning was boring. It wasn’t with him.”

Dr. Nelson Clarke, another noted Bahamian psychiatrist, said McCartney was “one of those persons who paved the way and helped to introduce many of the concepts that we are working with now in terms of Bahamian psychology and mental health”.

“I was fortunate enough to come along while he was still at work at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre as head of the psychology department,” Clarke said.

“I often looked to him for advice, to get ideas from him, to discuss things with him. I learned a lot from Dr. McCartney.” 

“He will be sorely missed.”

McCartney graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Saint John’s University in Minnesota in 1957.

He received his PhD, graduating summa cum laude, from the University of Strasbourg in France in 1967.

He was the first Bahamian clinical psychologist.

By 1980, McCartney became certified in rational behavior therapy through the University of Kentucky.

McCartney was a clinical psychologist for the Ministry of Health in The Bahamas between 1967 and 1993 and served as a first chairman for the Bahamas Psychological Association in 1990.

McCartney was also the editor for the Journal of the Bahamas Mental Health Association from 1969 to 1971.

He published “Neurosis in the Sun” in 1969, followed by “Bahamian Sexuality” in 1971. Additionally, McCartney co-authored “Managing Stress and Conflict amid Change” in 2013, among others.

In 2019, McCartney was endorsed by Marquis Who’s Who as a leader in the fields of healthcare and higher education. He was subsequently awarded the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

“He really was an icon,” Clarke said. 

McCartney ended his career as a professor in the School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Clarke said even though McCartney was living in Florida, he still had ties to The Bahamas and he always kept in touch. 

“It is a very sad day,” Clarke said.

“Tim was like a dad to so many of the younger persons who came behind.”

McCartney is survived by his wife Pauline Elizabeth Moysten-Silvera, whom he married in 1962, and their two children, Angela (Wayne) Stuart and Lorraine Williams.

He is also survived by siblings Ann Concino, Clinton Reginald McCartney, Coramae Major and William Arthur McCartney, in addition to their spouses and his many nieces and nephews.

The family has requested that donations be made to Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre where McCartney served as a clinical psychologist for many years.

Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date. 

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