Necrology

Hugo “Tug” Menzel Pfaltz, Jr. '53

Sep. 23, 1931-Aug. 31, 2019

Hugo “Tug” Menzel Pfaltz, Jr. ’53, a tax, trust, and estate attorney of Summit, N.J., was born on Sept. 23, 1931, in Newark, N.J., a son of the former Mary Elizabeth Horr and Hugo Menzel Pfaltz, Sr., a chemist. He grew up in Short Hills, N.J., and graduated from Millburn High School.

At Hamilton, Pfaltz majored in geology and history. A leader on campus, he was named freshman class president and received the McKinney Public Speaking Prize. Active on the cross country, track, and ski teams, he joined the Student Council, Publications Board (for which he served as chair), the Spectator and Hamiltonian staffs, Block “H” Club, and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors.

During his senior year on the Hill, Pfaltz was one of 12 members of his class selected for the feature “Pure Liberal Arts” that appeared in Life magazine’s April 27, 1953, edition. The publication labeled him an “individualist,” spotlighting his interest to study in South Africa during the entrenched days of apartheid.

Pfaltz’s plans changed, however, after he entered the U.S. Navy, serving in active duty from 1953 to 1957 during the Korean conflict. Having reached the rank of lieutenant upon his discharge, he remained in the active Reserves until 1962.

Pfaltz graduated from Harvard Law School in 1960 with an LL.B. and earned his LL.M. in federal taxation from New York University four years later. He joined the practice of McCarter and English, moved on to Bourne Noll & Kenyon, and opened his Summit law firm, Pfaltz and Woller, in 1974.

A fellow of the American Bar Association and a member of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Pfaltz served as editor of the New Jersey Law Journal and was an adjunct professor at Seton Hall Law School. Active in New Jersey politics, he was elected to the State Assembly for two terms, serving from 1968 to 1972, and was a delegate to the New Jersey Constitutional Convention in 1966.

Throughout his life, Pfaltz was known to be an independent thinker and visionary, not constrained by the ordinary or the expected, according to a published obituary. Likewise, he was known for his kindness, generosity, and loyalty. He noted in his 50th reunion yearbook, “My Hamilton education taught me to look at the fundamentals of a situation, to be an independent-thinking person not enticed by current fads.”

Pfaltz, who remained actively involved with his alma mater throughout his lifetime, served on the Alumni Council and as class gift chair. He died on Aug. 31, 2019. He was 87 and is survived by his wife of 62 years, the former Marilyn Muir; a daughter; a son; three grandsons; and a great-granddaughter. A son predeceased him.

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