Plampin, 80, edited official publications

Geoffrey C.M. Plampin, retired Editor of Official Publications, Dissertation Secretary and Vice-Marshal for the University, died Saturday, Feb. 28, in the Horton VNA Hospice in Valparaiso, Ind. He was 80.

Plampin was in charge of preparing the University directory, its course announcements and its convocation programs for publication.

As Dissertation Secretary, he was responsible for insuring that all doctoral dissertations were in good order before degrees could be granted.

“He did important work as Dissertation Secretary to organize the dissertations and make them easier to be photocopied, in the era before computers,” said Peter Dembowski, Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in French.

“He loved exactitude, excellence and pageantry, so ideally suited to his three simultaneous jobs,” said his son John, Assistant University Registrar for Convocation and Academic Affairs.

He studied Medieval English History at the University and received an A.B. in 1957. He became Editor of Official Publications and Dissertation Secretary in 1960, and later became Vice-Marshal. He retired in 1992.

He also is remembered for familiarizing new administrators with the University. “It was a delight and an advantage to have Geoff as a colleague in the administrative structure because of his personal grace, which made newcomers feel particularly welcome, and his seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of the University, the people in it and the way it worked,” said Harvey Stein, Associate Director in the Office of International Affairs.

Survivors include his wife, Barbara; sons, Christopher and John; a grandson; sister, Romesa Sheppard; brother, Richard; and stepmother Tillie Plampin.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Ann of the Dunes in Beverly Shores, Ind.; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; or to the Horton VNA Hospice, Valparaiso, Ind.