
Beth Abrams died of cancer on Dec. 22, 2017 at her Manhattan home, in hospice care. In her final illness she was lovingly cared for by her husband, Spencer Gluck. Beth was born April 29, 1954 in Oceanside to Eleanor W. and Robert E. Abrams. She grew up in Roslyn and attended Roslyn public schools. At age nine she drew public attention to ducks crossing Main Street in Roslyn with a wooden sign (“Watch for ducks!”) that resulted in the village maintaining a duck crossing sign. She graduated Roslyn High School in 1972. Beth earned a BS degree at the University of Rochester; then pursued psychobiology for a masters degree at Stony Brook University. She obtained her doctorate at the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University. Beth also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuropsychology at the International Center for the Disabled. She married Spencer Gluck on June 24, 2001 in Manhattan.
As a neuropsychologist and clinical psychologist, she specialized in working with adolescents and adults who had learning and attention problems. In addition to her private practice, she was a consultant at Pratt Institute and Columbia University. Beginning with research for her doctoral thesis on the unintended side-effects of anti-psychotic medication, she was concerned with the consequences of powerful medication. Even while being treated for melanoma at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital, she joined that faculty to study cognitive side effects of immunotherapy on cancer patients.
Abrams is survived by her mother (Eleanor); husband (Spencer Gluck); stepchildren (Alex, Rachel and Emily Gluck); brother (Bruce); sister-in-law (Catherine); niece (Daphne); nephew (Simon) and grandnephew (Theodore), She will be sorely missed.
On Dec. 28, 2017, a moving memorial was held at her childhood home at 122 Main St., Roslyn.