Jose J. Llinas, MD, born on August 10th, 1928, passed away on May 16, 2019. Professionally and personally, Dr. Llinas was known and loved for his deep compassion, his fierce intellect, his sharp wit, and a love of reading surpassed only by his love for his wife of 65 years, Maria.
Dr. Llinas graduated from Universidad de la Habana, Cuba with a doctor of medicine degree in 1954. As young newlyweds, he and Maria made the decision for him to pursue further medical training in the United States. Dr. Llinas began his sixty-year career as a psychiatrist as an intern at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. He and Maria then moved to Worcester, MA, where he trained at Westboro Hospital, and he completed his psychiatric residency at the University of Michigan in 1960. The young family moved to Jackson, MI, where Dr. Llinas worked at the Beth Moser Child Guidance Clinic. In 1965, he moved to Okemos, MI to accept a position at Michigan State University as the director of Ingham County Mental Health Center and professor of psychiatry. Dr. Llinas came to Gainesville in 1974, where he taught at the University of Florida College of Medicine and went on to head the newly-formed North Florida Community Mental Health Centers.
Over the next forty-plus years, Dr. Llinas served as Medical Director at Meridian Behavioral Healthcare and Vista Pavillion, penned the “Your Mental Health” column for the Gainesville Sun, and cared for patients in private practice and at Alachua General Hospital. He closed his career as a staff psychiatrist at the Malcom Randall Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Gainesville until his retirement in 2017. He received numerous awards and recognitions over his long career and was a Diplomate of the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry. He was named a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association in 2003.
Dr. Llinas is survived by his wife of 65 years, Maria Gonzalez Llinas; his children, Joe Llinas (Terri), Tom Llinas (Robin), Madeleine French (Kevin), Margie Llinas (Michael Goodman), Jackie Llinas (David Drake), and Lizzie Anderson (Jim); seventeen grandchildren (Margarita, Viviana, Katherine, Gabriela, Joseph, Nicole, TJ, Emily, Eliza, Julia, Emma, Jake, Samantha, Zack, Ana, Alyssa, and James); seven great-grandchildren (Aidan, London, Julia, Reya, Eve, Calvin, and Sydney); his siblings, Francisco Llinas (Mirta) and Tomas Llinas (Donna), as well as many nephews, nieces, great-nieces and great-nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, Jose Maria Llinas and Blanca Carvajal, and his brother, Juan Llinas.
A funeral mass will be held at Holy Faith Catholic Church, 747 NW 43rd St, Gainesville, at 9:30 am on Tuesday, May 28, 2019. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Gainesville.
