Alan Kauffman

on January 5, 2024. Beloved husband of the late Rochelle (Shelly) Solow; Loving father of Stuart Kauffman and Step-father of Rick and Amy Goldberg; Dear brother of Jeffrey Kauffman (Hilda) and Bruce Kauffman (Aliza); Devoted grandfather of Anya and Ellie. Relatives and friends are invited to a Memorial Service, Sunday 2:30 PM, followed by a reception, at Wesley Enhanced Living—Main Line, 100 Halcyon Drive, Media, PA. For all able to attend, the Graveside Service will be earlier, at precisely 1 PM at Montefiore Cemetery (Sec. 3), Jenkintown, PA.  

Graduate of West Philadelphia High School (after skipping elementary school grades), Temple University (originally on a voice and piano scholarship), Lit Brothers accountant, Savitz Organization pension actuary (highest certification). His early passions as a youngster included Mario Lanza and, briefly, body building. An army reservist, he was later an accomplished amateur actor associated with, among others, the Society Hill Playhouse including playing the lead in their production of Gore Vidal’s “An Evening with Richard Nixon” (1974)--see photo. He later turned with passion to health and fitness, eventually running in numerous marathons including the New York Marathon multiple times (an injury kept him out of the Boston Marathon the one time he qualified), and then turned to triathlons; he also baked his own bread and granola cereal and for a number of years was an early adopter of macrobiotics. He was a yearslong avid gardener and especially after retiring and with his beloved wife, Shelly, became an accomplished painter. He had once been a Ballroom dance instructor. He served a term as a Marple Township Volunteer EMT. He performed regularly in musical productions at his senior community. He loved jokes and intellectual games such as chess (in a downtown Philadelphia coffee house in the late 1950s, he taught Lisa Lane –who turned out to be a prodigy, soon won the US Chess Championship and became the loose inspiration for “The Queen’s Gambit”—how to play the game). A lifelong sensitive and varied artist and performer with the mindset and body of an athlete-intellectual, by all who knew him, he will be missed and his memory cherished.