Mike Ripps so kindly offered the following memories of Alan. Thank you Mike.
There never was an In Memoriam for Alan. I offer the following with Leslie's approval.
IN MEMORIAM ALAN D. PLOTKIN Alan Plotkin died June 18, 2008 of liver cancer. Shortly after finishing a 50 mile road bicycle ride, he went to his doctor for a yearly checkup and echocardiogram. A month later, they called to say the heart was ok, but there was something on his liver. Further testing proved it to be cancer. The doctor thought it was operable and possibly curable, but it wasn’t. He died a year and a half later. Alan graduated from the University of Virginia in 1967, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1970. He practiced law on Wall Street and then on his own in the City doing Commercial Real Estate and Business Organizations, including owning and managing properties. He married Leslie Davidson in 1968. They have two children, Lisa and Andrew. In June, I called Leslie to wish her a Happy 73rd Birthday. She reminded me it had been 10 years since Alan died. In the interim, there were many times that I wanted to share a memory with him of working together, music we loved, thoughts we had. To help me think of him, I got a cat and named him “Murphy”, the nickname his father gave him at birth. When I call Murphy, I often think of Alan. At his memorial service, I shared the following: ........................................................................................... MEMORIAL SERVICE REMARKS FOR ALAN PLOTKIN JUNE 20, 2008 My name is Michael Ripps. Alan and I were childhood chums. We met at age 3 ½ after my father went to his father’s gas station. We rode on the tires around the station, as we were small and they were up to our necks. We ate Milky Ways and Three Musketeer bars on his porch and watched the traffic going to the beach. We went for rides with the top down to get ice cream or Italian Ices and then rode around in the country to cool off. My parents had me call his parents Aunt Re and Uncle Arnold. When we were 11, our fathers took us to Puerto Rico and taught us to sit poolside and drink rum and Cokes. Uncle Arnold used to say, “If you have time to spare, go by air.” During the Summer when we were 14, we worked for our fathers and ate lunch together everyday. I was that best friend who went out with Leslie. When we were 18, we worked on the New Jersey State Highways building Jersey barrier curbs from scratch. We talked about, what else, cars, women, Rock and Roll and the meaning of life. Alan had an Austin Healy 100-6 and a Jaguar XK150. At the end of high school, we wrote in our yearbook that our future plan was to form the law firm of Plotkin and Ripps. Alan was a tolerant and understanding person. He said, “Some people have no taste.”, as a way realizing that all people are different. One of his favorite stories from the University of Virginia was when he went someplace, got lost, and asked for directions. The fellow said: “Go down the road two looks and turn right.” Alan asked, “What’s a look?’ The guy said, “Look down the road as far as you can see, and when you get there, that’s one look.” We had a special dance we did called the Pinky Dance, which was done with our pinkies out. Well, we didn’t see each for many years, as life sort of got in the way. When I saw him recently, I realized for the first time in 45 years that we would not be forming that partnership. I never had a better friend. As I left, Alan said to me, what I think he meant to say to all of us, . . . “It will be okay.”
I'm afraid I didn't know Alan as well as Mike did. However, that doesn't mean I can't express my condolensces for a fellow classmate who has died. Rest in peace, Alan.
Margaret Davis (Simpson)
Mike Ripps so kindly offered the following memories of Alan. Thank you Mike.
There never was an In Memoriam for Alan. I offer the following with Leslie's approval.
IN MEMORIAM ALAN D. PLOTKIN Alan Plotkin died June 18, 2008 of liver cancer. Shortly after finishing a 50 mile road bicycle ride, he went to his doctor for a yearly checkup and echocardiogram. A month later, they called to say the heart was ok, but there was something on his liver. Further testing proved it to be cancer. The doctor thought it was operable and possibly curable, but it wasn’t. He died a year and a half later. Alan graduated from the University of Virginia in 1967, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1970. He practiced law on Wall Street and then on his own in the City doing Commercial Real Estate and Business Organizations, including owning and managing properties. He married Leslie Davidson in 1968. They have two children, Lisa and Andrew. In June, I called Leslie to wish her a Happy 73rd Birthday. She reminded me it had been 10 years since Alan died. In the interim, there were many times that I wanted to share a memory with him of working together, music we loved, thoughts we had. To help me think of him, I got a cat and named him “Murphy”, the nickname his father gave him at birth. When I call Murphy, I often think of Alan. At his memorial service, I shared the following: ........................................................................................... MEMORIAL SERVICE REMARKS FOR ALAN PLOTKIN JUNE 20, 2008 My name is Michael Ripps. Alan and I were childhood chums. We met at age 3 ½ after my father went to his father’s gas station. We rode on the tires around the station, as we were small and they were up to our necks. We ate Milky Ways and Three Musketeer bars on his porch and watched the traffic going to the beach. We went for rides with the top down to get ice cream or Italian Ices and then rode around in the country to cool off. My parents had me call his parents Aunt Re and Uncle Arnold. When we were 11, our fathers took us to Puerto Rico and taught us to sit poolside and drink rum and Cokes. Uncle Arnold used to say, “If you have time to spare, go by air.” During the Summer when we were 14, we worked for our fathers and ate lunch together everyday. I was that best friend who went out with Leslie. When we were 18, we worked on the New Jersey State Highways building Jersey barrier curbs from scratch. We talked about, what else, cars, women, Rock and Roll and the meaning of life. Alan had an Austin Healy 100-6 and a Jaguar XK150. At the end of high school, we wrote in our yearbook that our future plan was to form the law firm of Plotkin and Ripps. Alan was a tolerant and understanding person. He said, “Some people have no taste.”, as a way realizing that all people are different. One of his favorite stories from the University of Virginia was when he went someplace, got lost, and asked for directions. The fellow said: “Go down the road two looks and turn right.” Alan asked, “What’s a look?’ The guy said, “Look down the road as far as you can see, and when you get there, that’s one look.” We had a special dance we did called the Pinky Dance, which was done with our pinkies out. Well, we didn’t see each for many years, as life sort of got in the way. When I saw him recently, I realized for the first time in 45 years that we would not be forming that partnership. I never had a better friend. As I left, Alan said to me, what I think he meant to say to all of us, . . . “It will be okay.”
Richard Dengrove
I'm afraid I didn't know Alan as well as Mike did. However, that doesn't mean I can't express my condolensces for a fellow classmate who has died. Rest in peace, Alan.