Michael Norman Planck

Michael Norman Planck, 83, was born January 22, 1943, during the middle of World War II. His father, Ernest H. Planck Jr., was a flight surgeon and a major in the US Army at Fort McClellan, just outside Anniston, Alabama. Mike was actually born down in Foley, a short drive from Mobile and the Gulf Coast. His mother, Dorothy Elizabeth Planck (Norman), was a nurse and little Mike had two other brothers, Ernest H. Planck III and Devereux Planck, both already deceased. They all lived in Anniston until Mike was 13 years old when they moved to Akron where his father got a job with Goodyear. While raised with money, a housekeeper, and multiple Corvettes which his brothers crashed, his childhood wasn’t idyllic. Both parents had issues with substance abuse and were abusive to their children as well. Anniston also happened to be the home of a large chemical plant for Monsanto which turned a portion of Anniston into a Superfund site due to PCB contamination.

Michael went to college at Miami University in southwest Ohio and got a degree in Anthropology, which he never used. He bounced around at several jobs, including a company that sold aluminum siding where he met his future wife, Judith Ing. They married and had two children, Kasha and Mitchell, in 1968 and 1969. After getting his teaching certificate, he taught 2nd and 3rd grade for a few years but didn’t really like it. Michael sold insurance and then went into loan processing at an Akron bank and turned that experience into a real estate appraising career, later doing work for the City of Akron in their housing department from which he retired.

Michael loved the outdoors and running, he often took the family to Cuyahoga Valley National Park for hiking and trail running. He liked to travel with his family to the seashore, either on the East Coast or to visit with his mother in Daphne, Alabama on the Gulf Coast. He dreamed of retiring near the coast in North Carolina and cruising the Intracoastal Waterway, but unfortunately that never happened. He and Judy did travel quite a bit during their retirement, visiting friends and family and going to casinos where they enjoyed playing video poker and competing in poker tournaments.

Later in life Michael was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease (like his brother Devereaux) probably caused by the chemical exposure as a youth in Anniston. He worked at maintaining his strength and balance as the disease progressed, refusing help in doing chores around the house and other tasks until he literally could not do it anymore. A fall from bed in January this year resulted in a broken femur, and the beginning of the end. The bone was repaired in surgery, but he wasn’t able to return home due to progressing dementia and weakness. By this point his dear wife Judy was doing even worse than he was due to mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer. She had weakened and was in the hospital and then long-term care for her last couple months. Mike worked hard while in rehab, trying to get

stronger and was able to walk short distances again for a bit before the disease just ground him down. He was very sad when Judy passed and probably gave up a bit at that point. Some good conversations were had before he became too addled to do those anymore. Mike passed quietly on April 16, 2026, in his sleep,

Arrangements entrusted to Adams Mason Funeral Home 330-535-9186.