Alan was born in Detroit, Michigan on December 30, 1947 to Walter Potok and Norma Leach Potok, (his beautiful war bride mother from Australia). He was the youngest of two boys having an older brother Guy. The family lived in Dearborn, Michigan. Sadly, Alan & Guy's mother Norma died of cancer in May of 1950.

In 1958, Alan and his family moved to Livonia, Michigan. Alan graduated from Livonia Franklin High school in 1966 and attended the University of Michigan and became a life long Wolverine fan. He graduated from U of M with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering in 1970 and a Master of Science in Engineering in 1978.

In 1969 he met his future wife Cheryl on a blind date and after a whirlwind 3 months courtship, they were married. Three wonderful daughters were born over the next 10 years. Jenny in 1971, Mandy in 1973 and Kacy in 1979.

In 1971 he enlisted as a commissioned officer in the NOAA Corp and served until 1978. His assignments took him to Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Michigan. Not wanting to miss seeing his daughters grow up, he resigned his commission and entered private industry in the late seventies. When the periodic economic downturn came to Michigan in 1981, he sent out resumes and got a job in Houston. The move was supposed to be temporary but lasted over 40 years. He worked for the Engineering firm Turner, Collie and Braden which then was later acquired by AECOM Technologies. His first position was as a project director, followed by Vice President in charge of water resources, Senior Vice President, Executive Vice President, and then ending his career at AECOM Technologies as the National Director of Water Resources.

He retired from AECOM in 2010 and took a job with Harris County Flood Control as the Director of Engineering and Construction and stayed there until 2014 before finally retiring for good.

On the personal side, he was very involved in his daughters' lives and coached them in Soccer for many years enjoying the time with them and teaching them and many other Kingwood girls the many lessons to be learned through sports and teamwork.

One of his greatest pleasures was seeing his adored daughters marry their wonderful husbands and over the next eleven years getting three grandsons and three granddaughters who he was crazy about.

After retiring, he and Cheryl spent many happy weeks each year in La Jolla, California where they had a small condo near the ocean. They took up pickleball and enjoyed playing together with wonderful friends both in Texas and California. He also took up the guitar and got quite good at it.

Alan was an incredibly smart and energetic person who always made things happen especially if he was told it couldn't be done. He had many amazing accomplishments in spite of fighting a twenty-four year battle with cancer with unstoppable determination and courage.

Alan is survived by his loving wife of fifty two years, Cheryl; his three daughters, Jennifer (Todd) Caven, Amanda (Drake) Borer and Kathleen (Matt) Tindall; his grandchildren, Ben and Kate Caven, Hawkins and Trinity Borer, and Molly and Jack Tindall. He is also survived by his brother Guy (Patricia) Potok and their daughter Susan (Ed) Harrison and sister-in-law Patricia Priest and her sons Evan (Renee) Priest and Brady (Sarah) Priest and grand nieces and nephews, Noelle and Bradley Priest, Joseph and Henry Harrison and Charlie, Maddie and Abby Priest.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Mothers Against Cancer at PO Box 5103 Kingwood, Texas 77325 or online at mothersagainstcancer.org or the charity of your choice. Service Information A memorial service is scheduled for 11 am on January 29, 2022 at the Good Shepherd Episcopal church at 2929 Woodland Hills Drive in Kingwood, Texas.