Alan M. Kaufmann Jr., a retired Department of Housing and Urban Development department supervisor who was a faithful main league baseball fan that toured ballparks throughout the nation, died Jan. 10 at his McLean house in Fairfax County, Virginia. He was 68.
Mr. Kaufmann’s household stated he died as the results of knife wounds allegedly inflicted by his spouse’s son.
Mr. Kaufmann tried to intervene in a dispute between his stepson and the stepson’s mom.
“I was caught off-guard when I was attacked by my son and Alan tried to stop it,” stated his spouse, Monica Williams. “I made it out of the house and he did not. He was my hero. He was so brave.”
Fairfax County police have charged 39-year-old Adam Timothy Jackson, his stepson, with second-degree homicide. Jackson has not entered a plea and stays in police custody.
Mr. Kaufmann was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was the son of Alan M. Kaufmann Sr., the Baltimore Montgomery Ward common supervisor, and Mildred Gingold, a homemaker. He was a member of the household that owned the now defunct Pittsburgh-based division retailer Kaufmanns.
After shifting to Baltimore the household lived on Mount Washington’s South Road and later in Pikesville.
Mr. Kaufmann attended Mount Washington School till seventh grade when he transferred to the Gilman School.
“My brother was a math wiz,” stated his sister, Lauren Kaufmann. “He had the ability to calculate in his head. He was patient and helpful to me when I was a kid struggling academically.”
Mr. Kaufmann developed a fascination with baseball by listening to video games on his mother or father’s radio. He realized to learn by going over the sports activities pages.
He was a 1972 Gilman graduate and in his senior yr was a part of the varsity’s “It’s Academic” crew that efficiently competed on a tv program. The crew went on to seize nationwide honors.
He earned a historical past diploma from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He wrote his senior thesis on the Negro Baseball League and the racial integration of Major League Baseball.
After his junior yr he launched into a cross-country journey to go to each Major League Baseball park.
“We bought Greyhound Bus passes and only stayed at a YMCA once, in Montreal,” stated Dr. Edward “Ted” Trimble, a college pal with whom Mr. Kaufmann traveled. “Otherwise we stayed with our families or school friends. Alan determined our schedule. He laid out a map of the U.S. and calculated the American and National League schedules.”
They visited 23 cities and Mr. Kaufmann wrote postcards to his then sweetheart.
Dr. Trimble stated they have been profitable in attending video games in any respect the parks apart from Yankee Stadium, which was present process renovations. They as a substitute visited what was then Shea Stadium in Queens, New York.
“Alan was endearing in his love for baseball,” stated Dr. Trimble.
“Alan was an unpretentious guy and when you got to know him, you got to know the world,” stated Charles Shepard, a pal from school. “He started something called Crabfest. We’d start eating crabs at Lexington Market, play a game of softball, then have more crabs at Bud Paolino’s and go to a Yankees-Orioles game.”
Mr. Kaufmann earned a legislation diploma at New York University earlier than becoming a member of the employees of Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer on Capitol Hill. As a highschool and school pupil, he had labored for then Democratic Sen. Paul Sarbanes’ campaigns.
His daughter, Meghan Jackson stated, ”He was an unbelievable father. … He managed my journey soccer crew for eight years and by no means missed one sport.”
He grew to become a housing specialist and joined the nonprofit Enterprise Homes in Baltimore.
He later was a department supervisor on the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Washington, D.C., engaged on enhancing situations in public housing all through the U.S.
“Alan was an incredible mentor to the people on his team. He was engaged with everybody he worked with,” stated Thomas R. “Tom” Davis, the director of the HUD Office of Recapitalization. “He knew his subject incredibly well — all the obscure regulations — and was the glue within the office as a whole. He was funny and caring.”
“He touched thousands of people who never met him,” Mr. Davis stated referring to public housing residents.
“He served low-income families very well,” Mr. Davis stated.
Mr. Kaufmann retired Dec. 31, 2022.
He was a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.
“My husband told me he had lived a life of privilege and wanted to serve others,” stated his spouse. “He died saving me. It was the ultimate sacrifice.”
Survivors embody his spouse of 23 years, Monica Williams, a expertise government; a daughter, Meghan Jackson of Frederick; and two sisters, Leslie Kaufmann of Bethesda and Lauren Kaufmann of Brookline, Massachusetts.
He was the stepfather to 3, Laura Cosner and Andy Cosner, from his first marriage to Sue Cosner, from whom he was divorced. He was additionally the stepfather of Adam Timothy Jackson.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com