Richard Zweig; Camarillo Psychologist, Counselor

Camarillo psychologist and volunteer substance-abuse counselor Richard Lee Zweig died Monday at a Northridge hospital after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 70.

Zweig was born July 15, 1927, in St. Louis. He lived in Missouri with his family for about seven years before they moved to Florida and then settled in Chicago, where he graduated from high school, his wife, Libby, said. Zweig earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree from Western Illinois University. He received his doctorate in psychology, his wife said.

At the time of his death, Zweig ran a private practice in Camarillo and was executive director for the Scottish Rite Foundation’s Childhood Language Disorder Clinics based in San Francisco.

Previously, Zweig owned a business that published remedial reading tests for 18 years. He later sold the business to Highlights for Children, a magazine company, his wife said.

Zweig was president of Palmer Drug and Alcohol Abuse Program in Camarillo, and donated his time helping young addicts, his wife said. He also volunteered at the Shriner’s Hospital for Crippled Children in Los Angeles.

He was a Mason and served as a master of the Saddleback Lodge No. 832 F. & A.M. in 1983. Libby Zweig, his wife of nine years, described him as a wonderful story teller.

“He was loved and admired by many people,” she said.

In addition to his wife, Zweig is survived by three daughters, Julie Zweig of New Paltz, N.Y., Lisa Zweig of Anaheim and Kerry Boulian of Woodbridge, Conn.; four sons, Steven Zweig of San Francisco, Russell Marshak of Sunland, Larry Pollock of Canoga Park and Adam Pollack of Orlando, Fla.; and a sister, Sherry Brownstein of Chicago.

A memorial service is planned at 2 p.m. Sunday at Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks. Zweig has donated his body for use in medical research at UCLA, his wife said.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the American Cancer Society.