MICHAEL RIFF

RIFF--Michael,

died peacefully on September 5 in Athens GA with his great love Jeanne Heaton by his side. Michael was born on Valentine's Day in 1946 to Irving Riff and Ruth Kahn Riff. He graduated from Lawrence High School and then from Cornell with an engineering degree. An excellent baseball player, in his senior year he led the Ivy League in batting and was a Collegiate All-American. He was inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame. After service in the Army National Guard and time in Vermont, Colorado and Italy, he settled in Greenwich Village. He enjoyed a long career as an entrepreneur and inventor in which he combined his thirst for knowledge, love of sports and open-minded approach to all people and things. In 2016, as Michael stoically endured the increasingly debilitating effects of Inclusion-Body Myositis, Jeanne and Michael moved to Athens GA, where they found comfort in the warm climate and even warmer Fuel Hot Yoga community. Michael cherished time with family and friends, and particularly loved family Thanksgiving gatherings. Kind, generous, sensitive, loyal, funny, spiritual and thoroughly sui generis, Michael will be missed this year and forever. In addition to Jeanne, Michael is survived by his sister Madeline Riff Potash; his nieces and nephews Robert, Jeff (Jackie) and Ken (Lisa) Potash, Laura Dalton Burman (Steven) and Mark Dalton (Rachel); his brothers-in-law Arnold Potash and Al Dalton; and his many grandnieces and grandnephews. He was predeceased by his sister Dorothy Dalton. Donations in Michael's memory may be made by selecting the cause One Posture at a Time at PureAction.org or to a charity of your choice.