[Baltimore Sun] Raymond F. Altman, 1960s All-America lacrosse player at Maryland, dies
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Raymond F. Altman, a 1960s lacrosse standout at the University of Maryland and three-time All American who left a legacy in the record books at College Park, died Oct. 12 of acute myeloid leukemia at Gilchrist Center in Towson.
The Owings Mills resident was 83.
“Ray was a superstar on and off the University of Maryland lacrosse field,” said Richard Sher, longtime Baltimore broadcaster, who knew Mr. Altman as a Zeta Beta Tau fraternity brother at College Park.
“Twice named All-American, Ray was chosen the best attackman in the country. He never bragged about his honors, never displayed the many trophies he won, Ray just quietly, modestly, worked his magic,” Mr. Sher said. “His friends and family did the bragging. He was a great looking guy with a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor.”
Raymond F. Altman was an All-America lacrosse player at the University of Maryland. (Courtesy)
Raymond Freddie Altman, son of Milton Altman, a tire repair and gas station owner, and Sara Altman, a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in Northwest Baltimore.
Mr. Altman’s lacrosse prowess was evident early on during his days as a student at Baltimore City College, when a Baltimore Sun sports writer noted that “Altman, who does everything well, led the Maryland Scholastic Association in scoring with 36 goals, saving his best performance for the title game in which he scored three times and had two assists.”
After graduating from City College in 1959, Mr. Altman enrolled at College Park as a scholarship student, where part of his scholarship duties included scrubbing toilets, family members said.
Mr. Altman was an attackman from 1961 to 1963 for the Terps, where he “earned two All-American honors and received the Jack Turnbull Award as the nation’s top attackman during his senior season,” wrote Michael Rovetto, a University of Maryland Athletics staff writer, in a profile of Mr. Altman earlier this year.
“He was Maryland’s record holder for points (214) and assists (146) in a career when he graduated,” he wrote. “Altman holds the record for assists and ranks sixth in points to this day despite only playing three years in an era with much shorter seasons.”
After graduating from College Park with a bachelor’s degree in 1963, he obtained his law degree in 1966 from George Washington University, and was admitted to the Maryland Bar that year.
Mr. Altman played and coached for the Mount Washington Lacrosse Club. He also served in the Army Reserve.
He had worked at Freishtat & Sandler before establishing his own law firm, Altman & Associates in Owings Mills. Its legal specialties were estate, corporate and family law.
He retired earlier this year, said his wife of 55 years, Janice Barbara Weinblatt.
Mr. Altman was elected in 2000 to the Baltimore Chapter of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame, and the next year, to the University of Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame.
Six decades after his graduation, the University of Marylandestablished the Raymond F. Altman Endowed Scholarship.
Mr. Altman was notified this summer that he was being inducted into the Baltimore City College Hall of Fame in November.
Funeral services were held Oct. 15 at Sol Levinson & Bros. in Pikesville.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Altman is survived by two sons, Matthew Altman of Bethesda and Samuel Altman of New York City; a daughter, Lauren Sommer of Scarsdale, New York; a sister, Etta Rosen of Delray, Florida; and seven grandchildren.
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