Samuel J. Plice

Hilton Head, SC - Sam Plice passed away on Thursday, May 7 at 9pm. He died peacefully in his sleep after a brief illness. He was 84 years old. He his survived by his brother Bill, his daughter Laura, his son Dan and his step-daughter Shawn. There will be a reception for family and friends on Thursday, May 14 from 3-5pm at Tidepointe on Hilton Head Island, where he spent the last year of his life. Samuel J. Plice was born on November 6, 1930 to Samuel and Georgia Plice in Oak Park, IL. His father was a prominent physician who served the greater Chicagoland area his entire career. Sam went to the University of MIchigan, where he received a Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering, followed by an MBA, during which time he also served a year in the U.S. Army. After a brief stint at General Motors, he started his career at the University of Michigan where he would work for the rest of his professional life. He started in the accounting department and worked his way through a series of positions. He was the Director of Administrative Systems starting in 1973, and he worked for the rest of his career in developing Administrative Systems and Networking Solutions within the University and between Michigan and the other Big Ten schools. In the mid-1980s he showed great foresight in convincing the University to install a multi-campus telecommunications network supporting voice and data for 30,000 users, including having fiber-optic cable laid under the streets of Ann Arbor at the Main Campus. Although controversial at the time, and disruptive to everyday life, he clearly came down on the right side of history. Sam married Constance Castle on December 27, 1958. Daughter Laura was born in 1962 and their son Dan was born in 1965. Sam and Connie were divorced in 1985. They lived in Ann Arbor all but the first few years of their lives together. He and Connie purchased a piece of property in Northern Ontario in 1967 and built a small cottage on it the following year. Here the family spent their summers, with Sam commuting back and forth to his job at the University. It became deeply entwined in the family's life and many of their happiest times were spent in McGregor Bay sailing, swimming, canoeing, hiking or just lounging on the deck, gazing at the lake where the cottage was situated. Sam was a lifelong fishing enthusiast and was seen casting his line even in his last year of life. Sam married Carolyn Doty in 1986. They had worked on many projects together at the University of Michigan for over 20 years. After his divorce, Sam and Carey's relationship developed into something more than platonic. And so they finished out their careers at the U of M together in more ways than one. After retirement, they moved first to Charlevoix, MI where they spent many happy years prior to moving to Sun City, SC. Among other pastimes, Sam and Carey took many long, adventurous cruises all over the world, which they both loved. In South Carolina, they enjoyed a great social life and they remained very active in the community until the time of Carey's death in 2007. Sam carried on in Sun City with a wonderful and supportive group of friends until he finally decided to make the transition to Tidepointe Retirement Community in 2014. There he found yet a new set of great friends who welcomed him with opened arms and he remained very active socially with new friends and old right up until the very end of his life. Sam was often described as having Maize and Blue blood, so anyone wishing to make a charitable donation in his name might please consider donating to the University of Michigan Scholarship Fund at www.giving.umich.edu/give. There will be a reception for family and friends on Thursday, May 14 from 3-5pm at Tidepointe on Hilton Head Island, where he spent the last year of his life.