Wells Hively

Ii

Wells Hively II, of Lake Sherwood, Missouri, died peacefully at home on September 23, 2023.  He was 92 years old.

Wells was born on June 1, 1931, in Lawrence, Kansas, to Wells Hively I and Elzabeth Dean Hively.  He grew up in Baldwin, Kansas, in his maternal family's household, loved deeply by mother Elzabeth (Sissie), Aunt Lois and Uncle Wendell Dean, and father Wells Hively I, composer and concert pianist who travelled globally as a prominent classical musician.

Wells' early career was as an artist and portrait painter.  Studying at both MIT and Harvard, he graduated from Harvard with a Batchelor of Arts in 1953 and went on to pursue psychology as a student of B.F.Skinner, earning his doctorate in psychology in 1961.  Wells taught psychology at the University of Minnesota, was the Executive Director at Spaulding Youth Center in Tilton, New Hampshire, was the Clinical Director at the Family Centre in Hamilton, Bermuda, and was in private practice at Duncan-Hively Psychological Services with his beloved wife and partner Dr. Ann Duncan-Hively. As a behavioral scientist at heart, a consistent thread in Wells' career was his focus on measurement and evaluation of charted data to understand and influence outcomes.

Wells was a loving and beloved companion and father, full of humor and adventure.  He had a passion for the sea and sailing, dogs and cats, good food, gardening, classical music, Shakespeare, poetry and song, and he continued to paint and draw through the end of his life.  He wrote several manuscripts on the important issues of our times:  sustainable agriculture, alternative education systems, family and attachment.

In the last years of his life, Wells was wonderfully cared for at home by daughter Jennifer,  granddaughter Brittany, and wife Annie - an incredible gift that allowed him to be surrounded by plants, animals, comfort and love until the end.  Wells is survived by wife Ann Duncan-Hively, son Wells Dean Hively, daughters Kathryn Hively Snider and Jennifer Hively May, and grandchildren Riley Snider Whittier-Ferguson, Brittany Elzabeth Barnes, Jacob James May, and August Wells May.

In Wells' memory, please consider a donation to the Family Centre in Bermuda, an organization caring for children and families that Wells worked for and loved.  US donors can give through Friends of the Family Centre www.tfc.bm/501c3 .