Dr. John Hazen “Roadkill” McConnell

John was born on March 18, 1950, to Mary Priscilla Hazen and John Edward McConnell in Montreal. He died at his home in San Diego on December 30, 2020.

John grew up in Toronto and earned his B.Sc. at the University of Toronto. After moving to San Diego in 1978, he attended the California School of Professional Psychology, completing his Marriage and Family Therapist License in 1986, and his PhD in 1988.

John served as executive director of the San Diego LGBT Community Center in 1986, opening his private practice that same year in Hillcrest, an historically gay area in San Diego. Through his work, both paid and pro bono, he expressed a deep commitment to sexual/gender freedom and self-expression, and to the LGBTQ community. After he retired in October 2020, he wrote eloquently on his professional website about his lifelong commitment and sense of calling.

In addition to his partner Kevin Hewitt, John is survived by his brother Malcolm Hazen McConnell, sister-in-law Dawn, and nieces Meaghan (and her husband Andre and daughter Madelein), Chelsea (and her husband Tom and their children Molly and Hazen), and Chloe (and her husband Lars). John was preceded in death by both parents and by his sister Mary Creaghan McConnell.

Donations honoring John and his life can be made to Leather Archives and Museum, Tom of Finland Foundation or the San Diego LGBT Community Center. An in-person memorial is tentatively planned for late spring or early summer in San Diego.

“Dawn, Chloe, Lars, and I were able to attend his memorial in San Diego on October 23, 2021. So many of John’s clients expressed thanks for the help he had given them. He really was an extraordinary person with a gift for listening and communicating.” – Malcolm McConnell

PHOTOS

John in repose (Source: Malcolm McConnell)

John and Malcolm at Chloe’s wedding on September 1, 2018, at Windward Farm, Town of the Blue Mountains, Ontario (Source: Malcolm McConnell)