Alan S. King

Born: April 23, 1940
Died: May 22, 2004

Alan S. King was born in Denver, Colorado, the son of Kenneth King and Edith Shell King. His father was the founder of Columbia Savings & Loan in Denver. He graduated cum laude from Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts and enrolled with our class in the Fall of 1958. He was assigned to Bingham and his roommates were Jerry Furcolowe and John Rogosch.

Subsequently, Alan was a member of Davenport College and received his B.S. in Administrative Sciences in 1967 although he remained affiliated with our class. He also earned his Masters in Administrative Sciences from Yale in 1968.

Alan served in the United States Army in Germany from 1962 to 1966 and developed a deep, continuing interest in military affairs. He was described as "a military history buff."

Alan lived in Colorado for many years and actively pursued his life long hobby of skiing. He founded and served on several ski patrols in the Colorado mountains. He was a Red Cross first aid instructor and a long time member of the National Ski Patrol.

Alan also held a pilot's license and was a member of the Civil Air Patrol.

In 1987 our 25th Reunion Book records Alan as living in Lawrence, Kansas, home of the University of Kansas. It was there where he is believed to have met his wife Dorothy Ellsberry, who was studying occupational therapy. When Dorothy moved to South Dakota and initiated the first occupational therapy program at the University of South Dakota, Alan relocated with her. They resided in Vermillion for a number of years until her death. After his wife's death, Alan remained in Vermillion but was bothered by ill health including 2 hip replacements, after which he was unable to pursue his love of skiing. According to his attorney John Gors of Vermillion, who supplied information for this obituary essay, Alan became a loner and kept mostly to himself during the last years of his life.

Classmate Joe Warner remembered Alan from Bingham days. "He lived across the hall, one of a number of new acquaintances who seemed smarter and more confident than me. During the summer of 1959 following freshman year, Andy Barber (then Mark André Barber, now Mark André Dreyfus) and I set off by car to see the U.S.A. When we got to Denver, Al put us up for a few days and showed us around town, introducing us to family and friends. He was a gracious host and sent us on our way with an appreciation for Western hospitality."

Alan died in Vermillion, South Dakota. His parents preceded him in death, and he left no immediate relatives.