Richard D. Steinberg
Dr. Richard D. Steinberg, beloved husband, father and brother, passed away on August 16, 2025, at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, ten days after suffering major injuries in a car accident in Goleta. His wife and son were holding his hands, and his last words were “I love you” to his son, Will. He was 78 years old. He had courageously lived with and battled against Parkinson’s disease for over a decade.
Rich was born in Chicago, IL, on April 22, 1947, to Martin and Betty (Soglin) Steinberg. He grew up with his siblings, aunts, uncles, grandparents and many cousins all living in the vicinity and they were a very close family. He took two city buses each Saturday to attend the Old Town Folk School of Music in Chicago for guitar lessons, which he recalled very fondly. This was a formative experience that deepened his lifelong passion for music.
His father Marty’s work as a chemist took his nuclear family to Cincinnati, Ohio; Schenectady, NY; and back to Chicago during his early years, before they made the big move to Santa Barbara, CA, in 1961. His father took a job at GM and later was employed as a research chemist at UCSB into his 80’s. His mother Betty was a teacher, counselor and then principal (at Ellwood Elementary) in Goleta, CA schools.
Rich attended San Marcos High School (1961-1964) while living in San Roque, and formed a wonderful group of friends with whom he maintained lifelong connection. He pursued his musical interests, playing violin in the SMHS orchestra and singing and playing folk songs on guitar at various local venues. He played on the tennis team and spent a lot of time with friends at the beach.
At UC Berkeley (1964-1968), Rich became fascinated with psychology and attended his first Bob Dylan concerts. For the rest of his life, Dylan was his favorite musical artist and he knew the words to almost all his songs. After graduating with honors in Psychology (BA), he married Nancy Grover in Santa Barbara (1968) and they moved to Toronto, Canada, where Rich earned an MA and a PhD in Clinical Psychology at York University in Ontario, Canada. In 1975, he accepted a position as the psychologist at the Nanaimo Regional Hospital in British Columbia, Canada. He was beloved by the staff and by his clients, and known for his collegiality, his willingness to investigate different approaches, his kindness, and his sense of humor. Living in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island, he made a wide group of lifelong friends. Whatever the occasion, everyone brightened when Richard appeared. He joined in at musical gatherings, playing the guitar or the fiddle accompanied by other musicians.
In 1979, Rich returned to Santa Barbara, where he lived for the rest of his life. Rich was a highly regarded clinical psychologist in both the Nanaimo and Santa Barbara communities, including nearly four decades at the Sansum Medical Clinic (Santa Barbara). Physicians and clients sought Dr. Steinberg’s professional expertise because he was a compassionate, caring, and astute psychologist. As a highly esteemed colleague, he was elected to serve as president of the Santa Barbara Association of Clinical Psychologists (1982). Richard was also the first recipient of the Jerry H. Clark Distinguished Psychologist Award (1986). In the 1990’s, Rich and his business partner, Dean Given, co-founded a business that would evolve into Santa Barbara Behavioral Health, a multispecialty clinic that served many people in the community for over two decades.
During the 1990s, Rich was a second dad to Melissa Harris and Anna (Harris) Kovar, who remained close to him throughout his life. Richard welcomed the girls and their mother into his home when Melissa was 13 and Anna 5 and treated them as if they were his own kids. They went on many family vacations, camped in his VW camper, sang with Rich while he played the guitar, and played music on his stereo. The five years Melissa and Anna spent living with Richard were some of their happiest childhood memories. Even later, Rich continued to show up to their choir performances, graduations, weddings, and baby showers, a steady source of encouragement, love and guidance.
In 2002, Rich married Lisa Belluzzi, a biology instructor at Santa Barbara City College, and they brought their son, Will, into the world in 2004. Will shares his birthday, April 22nd, with his father and his maternal grandfather. Becoming parents brought great joy and the biggest adventure of their lives. Rich was a deeply devoted husband and father. Always fun-loving, life-positive, persevering, and passionate, Rich gave 110% to everything he set his mind to in life, including raising his son. Rich attended every sports event, musical performance, and took Will to tennis tournaments all over SoCal. Rich was so proud of Will’s many accomplishments, academic and otherwise, and especially of the young adult he became: a kind, ambitious, persevering, hard working young man with many friends. Will is currently a senior at UCLA, a computer science major and an avid tennis player and tennis coach. Rich’s favorite activity in recent years was watching Will play tennis and doing anything he possibly could to assist in Will’s development.
Rich traveled widely over the years, including to Europe, Egypt, Israel, Brazil, Mexico and Canada. In the last two decades, trips with Lisa and Will were frequently to visit friends and family across the U.S. and Canada, as well as trips to all of the Hawaiian Islands to enjoy their beauty while hiking, body surfing, golfing, snorkeling, ziplining and taking surfing lessons. Rich took Will on many adventures in his Eurovan, often at El Capitan, Refugio and Big Sur, as well as joining on school campouts. Rich was an avid cyclist and into his 50’s he participated in the Death Ride in the Sierras, rode frequently to Solvang, hundreds of miles a week.
Rich modeled for all of us how to enjoy every day, to work hard, pursue interests with dedication and passion, how to live in pursuit of your dreams; to live with joy and seize every moment! He shared the wonders of nature, and most of all, he taught us that life is about people, relationships, and being generous and kind to others.
The accident that landed Rich in the hospital occurred two days after he had enjoyed a family reunion with dozens of family members who had traveled from all over the country to spend time with him. His sister, Sue, asked him about his “ethical will,” the values, not belongings, he would leave to others. “Be kind, generous, honest and inclusive,” he told her. And those truly describe the person that he was. He was full of love and laughter, and lit up a room when he entered. He had a way of connecting to each individual that made them feel seen, heard, and appreciated.
Rich embraced life and when Parkinson’s limited him, he pushed back. He biked (on his tandem recumbent e-trike), played guitar and golfed until the day of the accident. When relatives played 16-inch softball, a game from his native Chicago, at the family reunion, he insisted on taking a few swings, each ending with his son catching him to prevent a fall. He made contact, and official scorers awarded him a base hit, the crowd cheering.
Rich is survived by his wife, Lisa Belluzzi; his son, Will Steinberg; his sister Susan (Jay) Spivack and brother Steve; a niece, nephew, and nine first cousins of the Soglin family; his parents-in-law; and many other extended family members.
His family extends deep gratitude to Rich’s loving, devoted long-term caregivers, including Denise Cervantes, Kelly Martinez, Alejandro Cervantes, and Lyudmyla Shennum. They enabled Rich to have the highest quality of life possible, still living at home with his family.
A Celebration of Life will be held in Santa Barbara, CA, on March 28, 2026. Further details TBA.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Rich’s honor to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research http://tribute.michaeljfox.org (Richard Steinberg tribute page) or to the Parkinson’s Association of Santa Barbara https://www.mypasb.org/donate are appreciated.
