Alan G. Krasnoff, a psychogist responsible for setting up psychological services for inmates at the St. Louis County Jail, died Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, of pneumonia at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in Town and Country. He was 79 and resided in Clayton.

Dr. Krasnoff helped get the Psychology Department at the University of Missouri-St. Louis established in 1965, and was its first department chairman.

In the 1970s, Dr. Krasnoff, working with graduate students, established a program for evaluating and treating inmates at the St. Louis County jail and correctional facilities. He retired from UMSL in 1990, and continued to direct the County Jail program until 2001.

Dr. Krasnoff was a native of Somerville, Mass.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Dr. Krasnoff was one of the youngest veterans of World War II, having enlisted in the U.S. Army after his 17th birthday in March 1945. He served stateside and later in occupied Korea.

Funeral services were held last Friday at Congregation Shaare Emeth. Burial was at New Mount Sinai Cemetery.

Among the survivors are his wife of 48 years, Jane H. Krasnoff; two daughters, Elizabeth Krasnoff Levy of Carmel, Ind., and Susan Weinstock of Falls Church, Va.; two sons, Dr. Mark Krasnoff of Ladue and Daniel Krasnoff of Webster Groves; a sister, Bernice Gilman of Peabody, Mass.; a brother, Harold Krasnoff of Hull, Mass., and eight grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Jewish Food Pantry, 10950 Schuetz Road, St. Louis, Mo. 63146, or to a charity of the donor’s choice.