Dr. Eric Platz Md.

Dr. Eric Platz, MD, left behind his fragile body on the morning of February 13, 2020, passing peacefully in his sleep at his adobe home in the foothills of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Eric leaves a legacy of enthusiasm for life, honesty, integrity, service, and consideration of others.

Besides being a the quintessential scientist, Eric had the soul of an artist. He found beauty in everything from the flowers he grew, to music, to the face of his loving wife, Barbara. He was a musician, a photographer, a gourmet chef, a gardener, stone mason, and towards the end of his life a woodworker. He often brought a meticulous scientific approach to his art. For instance, he studied his photographic subjects, flowers, and nature of all kinds, in close-up detail, and then set the slide shows to music. He was a conservationist and maintained a greenhouse, where he grew seven foot tall, three year-old tomato vines, which produced delicious fruit all winter. He enjoyed entertaining, bird watching, mushroom hunting, hiking, canoeing, camping, and star-gazing.

Eric was born Nov 13, 1946 in Bloomington, Indiana to James Edward and Ella Mae Platz, both librarians. Since the 4th grade, Eric recognized his calling to become a medical doctor. In his sophomore year in college, he felt the call of his heart when he asked his classmate, Barbara Cartwright, to picnic and “eat steak with their bare hands.” A week later they became engaged. They married in 1968 as Eric continued his studies at University of Missouri. He graduated from University of Texas at Galveston Medical School in 1973, and subsequently completed his internship and residency at Valley Medical Center in Fresno, California. Barbara and Eric moved to Santa Fe in 1977 where they started their family and Eric began his career in Emergency Medicine. In 1982 the family moved to Tacoma, Washington where Eric practiced at St. Joseph’s Medical Center until 2001. When Barbara and Eric moved back to Santa Fe, he transitioned into Urgent Care Medicine, and served as the medical director of Biotest Plasma Center.

In his long years in medicine, Eric touched and saved many lives, always practicing with thoroughness and compassion. He embraced the required night hours of emergency medicine with energy and enthusiasm, serving all his patients tirelessly, no matter their circumstances. Eric’s generosity often expressed itself as self-sacrifice to the needs of others. He was always on hand to help a neighbor with a medical emergency and he shepherded several close friends through terminal illnesses with great heart and profound grief.

One of Eric’s special interests was the Sangre De Cristo Choral. For many years, Eric sang as a tenor and also served on the board of the organization. He and Barbara hosted numerous choir functions at their home and made many lifetime friendships.

Eric is survived by the love of his life, his wife of 51 years, Barbara Platz; his son Tim Platz of Santa Fe; his daughter, Shay Platz, and her husband Mike Anderson, and their son, Callahan Anderson, all of Portland, Oregon; his brother, Dr. Jim Platz, Ph.D.; and many extended family members and many dear friends.

Services are pending for a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Sangre de Cristo Chorale or the Santa Fe Food Depot.