Dr. John Irving Maurer, a former psychiatrist and Murphys, Calif., died peacefully in his sleep on June 21, 2023 at the age of 88.

Dr. Maurer was born in Madison, Wisconsin to Kathryn Fisher Maurer and Irving John Maurer, attended the University of Wisconsin, played baritone horn in a band, and competed in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

The trip prompted him to transfer to Stanford University, where he earned a PhD.

He loved golf so much that he took notice of Linda Collins Maurer (10 March 1939 – 13 October 2004), a Stanford team golfer and nursing student, who soon married and had three children. built a family of

He served in the military as a psychiatrist in New York, monitoring the mental health of military personnel.

While working as a resident psychiatrist at Stanford University, he worked shifts during the Summer of Love at the Haight-Ashbury Clinic in San Francisco, working to “recover” LSD overdose victims. Contributed to the establishment of procedures. He co-authored “Managing ‘Bad Trips’ in the Evolving Drug Field,” published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1970.

He became Director of the Mental Health Center at Emmanuel Hospital in Turlock, California, and served on the Board of Directors of the Medic Alert Foundation for many years. He served on the Board of Directors of the Medic Alert Foundation. The first member of this foundation was his wife Linda, whose parents were the founders.

Dr. Maurer practiced in Turlock until his semi-retirement, continued diplomatic consultations with many organizations throughout central California, and continued mentoring young psychiatrists on the Navajo Reservation in Shinle, Arizona.

John loves supporting the visual arts and has played euphonium and baritone horn in many community bands.

He was an avid local wine lover in Calaveras County and cribbed almost every day.

In 2022, he was very proud to have been dealt a “perfect hand” of all fives and the Jack of Spades. The odds of that happening are only 1 in 216,580.

He recently returned from a road trip to Canyon de Chelly National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, and Joshua Tree National Park, where he is proud to be a Life Member.

He is survived by his wife of 24 years, Oma Gay Dilhey Maurer, daughters Kathryn “Cassie” Maurer and Karen “Curry” M. Walker, grandchildren Rudy and Max Fierro, and stepdaughter. He survives a son, Rick Minyard, and a granddaughter-in-law. Sierra Naomi Jones. His only son, Paul Collins Maurer, died in 2018.

For information on his memorial service on 13 July 2023, please contact kassiemaurer@gmail.com. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Alzheimer’s Association of Sacramento. https://www.alz.org/norcal.