Alphonse George Holtmann

Alphonse G. Holtmann
August 14, 1936 – January 14, 2021


Dr. Alphonse G. Holtmann, Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University Of Miami, died suddenly at his home in Coral Gables on January 14th, 2021. He was 84.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri on August 14, 1936, he was an outstanding student and notable athlete. He attended St. Louis Central High School where he was valedictorian of his class. As a fifteen year old Al was the 18 and under United States Table Tennis Champion. He was also the Missouri State High School Tennis Champion for three consecutive years. In 1954, as a junior tennis player he was ranked fifth in the U.S., winning the National Junior Indoors Tennis Championship that year. He is a member of the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame.

He attended the University of Illinois on a tennis scholarship where he played number one and was the team captain. He and his wife Carole Marie Boshard were married before they finished college. When his oldest son was born, Al was away on a tennis trip, playing for Illinois against Notre Dame.

He went to Washington University where he received his PhD in Economics. Al first took a position at Wayne State University, then joined the faculty at Florida State University, eventually becoming chairman of the economics department. After an interim at the Poverty Institute of the University of Wisconsin, he became chairman of the economics department at the State University of New York Binghamton. He and his family stayed there for a decade while his four sons attended high school.

In 1981, he took a similar position at the University of Miami, working there until he retired in 2002. During this time, he was Research Professor of the Year and received many grants in Human Resource Economics and Health Economics. In addition, he advised the State and Federal government in health policy, was on the editorial board of several economic journals, and was a member of the University of Miami Faculty Senate.

Al loved his work, but the most important part of his life was his family. He is survived by Carole, his wife of 64 years, by members of his adored family, his son Tom, his daughter-in-law Maria, his son Steve, his son Michael, his beloved grandson John Michael, and his son Peter, as well as Peter’s companion Carol Rose and her sons, Alex and Tyler. Al and Carole taught all of their children how to play tennis and this sport was a thread that bound their family tightly together. They spent countless hours on the court with their kids, driving them to matches and watching them play.

He never stopped playing tennis, playing many times a week with friends and with his sons. What he enjoyed most in his later years was cheering on his grandson, who plays tennis for the University of Connecticut. Al was a member of the Royal Palm Tennis Club for 34 years. He became an avid golfer, enjoying golf outings with friends in Miami and North Carolina. Cheering the Miami Canes men and women’s sport teams was a favorite pastime. He and Carole are avid readers and spent much time at the ballet and Gables Stage.

Anyone who knew Al found him loving and caring, always sincere, always with a smile. He genuinely wanted to know how you and your family were doing and he was
eager to tell you about his own family. He was a good friend, a good father and a good husband. He set an example for us all and will be dearly missed. Hopefully, he is hitting sweet cross-court backhand returns like the ones so many of us watched go by us so many times.

Due to Covid, we look forward to gathering to celebrate Al’s life later in the year.