Alan Saiz

I just miss you...

May the the memories lived and shared provide some comfort. May you see glimmers of his life go on through his child. We extend our sympathy.

Qué momentos vividos y compartidos con él les traigo un poco de consuelo. Qué sonrían al ver rasgos de su vida en su hijo. Tristemente, les deseamos consuelo.

I keep thinking of little Alan stories. He accompanied me on all my Structural Geology field trips to western Connecticut and NY. Every year on our way back on the turnpike we would turn on the radio so we could listen to Johnny Most and the Celtics in a playoff game, usually with the Lakers. It was a tradition and sort of magical with tired students snoozing in back as we were cruising home on I-90. On one trip, Maggie came along and the year before Alan had convinced me to not camp in tents at the KOA but to move into their cabins. Alan, Maggie, and I shared a cabin and Alan spent a half hour trying rig an antenna out of a coat hanger for his little TV so we could watch whatever, maybe the Celtics. Mag and I got big laughs at his expense and I don't recall if the antenna ever worked. On the 1992 Black Hills mega trip, one night we were camping 15 or so miles south of Deadwood, Colorado. Early on Alan and I decided we were going to drive to Deadwood and gamble. We didn't let anyone know and as soon as dinner was over we slipped out of camp and were off. We got busted when several students showed up at he casino. It was my first ever casino experience and I won $12 in nickles while Alan lost ten bucks or so. He grew weary of my gloating on the drive back to camp.
Alan was not just a great guy to have in the department, he was intelligent and talented and willing to do any task from unraveling a computer problem or driving vans, to developing and teaching Mal's GIS lab. Alan was so good with students who all loved him, as you well know. He was often the geo-faculty's point man on conveying information to students and I know he offered a shoulder to many as they fretted about some problem in a class or their personal lives. Alan was genuine, nothing phony or pretentious about him, a trait I appreciated greatly. He didn't sugar coat his opinions in general or his advice to students whom he was perfectly willing to scold when they were being unreasonabl

Alan is simply the finest friend and colleague a person could have. I was lucky enough to work together with Alan at Northeastern University for over a decade, and I enjoyed and benefited from it every day. I also remember that for me, his friends and family he was always ready to provide help and support whenever needed and without asking. One of my fondest memories will always be his wonderful laugh. Alan will be sorely missed but not forgotten