Milton C. Hollar

Dr. Milton C. Hollar, 91, of Ridgefield, CT, a psychiatrist in New Rochelle, NY, passed away peacefully on Thursday, May 13, 2021.

Dr. Hollar was born in Newark, NJ on May 6, 1930, a son of the late Hector R. Hollar and Ruth L. Hollar. He was raised by his late maternal grandmother, Ara “Nana” Goodman. 

When Dr. Hollar graduated from Barringer High School in Newark, NJ he received an academic scholarship to Syracuse University. While at Syracuse, he was a charter member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. During the Korean War, he was drafted between his third and fourth years of college and served 33 months in the U.S. Army. He was a retired Major in the U.S. Army and while serving, completed his basic training at Fort Dix, NJ in the 147th Rifle Regiment, the first unit integrated by President Truman. After graduation from Officer Candidate School at Fort Riley, KS, he completed pilots training at San Marcos Texas Air Force Base and held positions as Executive and Commanding Officer of the Ordnance Corps training school for noncommissioned officers. 

After leaving the Army, Dr. Hollar completed undergraduate and graduate education at New York University. He then attended Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C. where he received his medical degree in 1962. Dr. Hollar completed his internship as the first Black intern at New Rochelle Hospital and was chief resident and later Attending Psychiatrist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. In 1965, he developed a community mental health clinic in New Rochelle, NY. Dr. Hollar worked as a private psychiatrist and psychoanalyst in NYC and New Rochelle, NY. He contributed to numerous publications and in 2001, published his own article titled, “The impact of racism on the delivery of health care and mental health services” which was published in Psychiatric Quarterly in 2001. He retired as Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Associate Director of Psychiatry at the Bronx Psychiatric Center in 2008, and maintained a private practice in New Rochelle. Dr. Hollar was a member of the New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute and the Black Psychiatrists of America and practiced psychiatry for 59 years. In 2006, Dr. Hollar was honored with the Solomon Carter Fuller Award “for demonstrating the qualities of scholarship and community leadership so emphasized by America’s first black psychiatrist, and for the forthright furtherance of the mental health of Black people” by the American Psychiatric Association. 

A resident of Ridgefield, CT for the past thirty years, he was an avid reader, tennis player, and traveler. He also enjoyed music, especially jazz. During his high school and college years, he won multiple awards in track and field.

Dr. Hollar is survived by his wife, Dr. Claire Katz, of thirty-one years, two daughters, Melia C. Hollar and Dr. Erica M. Hollar, and two sons, Marc C. Hollar and Milton Ray Hollar-Gregory. In addition, he is survived by his grandchildren, Leon M. Byrd III, Mecia C. Hollar, Marissa C. Buster and his great-grandchildren, Marcos A. Arjona, Angelina R. Arjona, and Amiyah G. Byrd. In addition to his parents, Dr. Hollar was predeceased by his son, Michael C. Hollar and his previous wife, Muriel G. Hollar, mother of Michael, Melia, and Marc.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, October 16, 2021 at 3:00pm at Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation in White Plains.

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