Herbert Paul Golub died on August 19. He was 81, and had been a practicing clinical psychologist for almost 50 years, retiring just before his 75th birthday.

He was born in July 1940, the only child of Benjamin and Janet Golub.

He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Massachusetts. He subsequently earned two graduate degrees from Boston University, did post-doctoral work at the Harvard Laboratory of Community Psychiatry and held a fellowship at the University of Southern California.

He received his PhD from the University of Minnesota, where he met his future wife and fellow clinical psychologist, Carol Marie Golub. In 1967, they married in Minneapolis.

Dr. Golub was a chief psychologist for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, which he later consulted with for 12 years in Roxbury and Mattapan, the communities where he was born and raised.

He was a psychology expert witness for the Social Security Administration, and more recently both the Golubs were consultants for military families for the Department of Defense on bases in Germany and Belgium.

Dr. Golub held faculty appointments at Northeastern University, Boston University, Tufts College and Cambridge College. Throughout his career, he maintained a private practice, sharing a home office in Boxford with his wife.

His professional affiliations included being secretary and chairman of the legislative committee of the Massachusetts Psychological Association. While serving as legislative chairman, he was instrumental in passing the psychologist licensing bill and mandatory mental health coverage for insurance bill.

He was also site visitor for the American Psychological Association for 30 years.

Dr. Golub was involved in community activities, including the school committee of the North Shore Technical High School, the Boxford Library board, and the Perley Scholarship Fund board in Boxford. For approximately 15 years, he was chairman of the Boxford Democratic Town Committee. He was a 32nd degree Mason and a Shriner.

His hobbies included being an avid Boston sports fan. He particularly enjoyed attending Boston Celtics games and held season tickets during the years that Larry Bird played. He and his wife were limited partners in the team for a number of years.

He traveled to many unique destinations, including a trip to Iceland and Cape Horn, at the tip of South America, in the same year. The Golubs traveled throughout the Caribbean, South America, Europe and New Zealand. In 2008, they began making winter sojourns to Santa Barbara, which became their second-home community.

In 2016, they retired to their Chilmark home of more than 20 years. Dr. Golub continued his involvement with the Masons on the Island and was a member of the Martha’s Vineyard Healthy Aging committee. He was a member of the Chilmark Democratic town committee and the Martha’s Vineyard Democratic council.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. Carol Marie Golub, and their son Steven, a longtime employee in the transportation industry.

Donations can be made to the Southern Poverty Law Center.