Obituary: Alan Lindsay, dad of Palm Beach council member and former attorney, dies at 96
Alan Lindsay, father of Town Council member Bobbie Lindsay and co-founding partner of the Palm Beach law firm Alley, Maass, Rogers & Lindsay, died Feb. 14. He was 96.
Mr. Lindsay was born Jan. 6, 1928, in New York City and graduated from Trinity School. He enlisted and served in the U.S. Navy before entering Harvard University. He graduated cum laude in 1949.
He spent a short time teaching school in South Florida before marrying Barbara Louise Kernan and returning to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to attend Harvard Law School. He received his J.D. in 1953.
Mr. Lindsay had a lifelong affection for Palm Beach, according to his children, having visited as a child with his father on numerous fishing and golf trips.
At age 13, his photo appeared in the New York Times alongside a large sailfish he caught and weighed at Annie’s Dock in Palm Beach. He later told his children it was on that day — Dec. 6, 1941 — that he decided he was going to move to the island when he grew up.
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He moved here after passing the New York and Florida bars, and ultimately joined Alley, Maass, Rogers & Lindsay as a co-founding partner in 1957. Mr. Lindsay later served as president of the Tax Section of the Florida Bar.
In 1961, Mr. Lindsay moved his family to the North End, where they lived for 53 years.
Mr. Lindsay loved the ocean, his children said. He and his family and friends spent much of their time boating, diving and fishing in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas.
He also loved to play golf, and he served as an early president of Myacoo Lakes Country Club in West Palm Beach.
Spearfishing and skiing were other passions for Mr. Lindsay, as was flying. He and Barbara learned to fly in the late 1950s, and they purchased a small airplane. Mr. Lindsay eventually earned his pilot’s license.
Mr. Lindsay was a fun-loving man who loved music, dancing, and any excuse for a party, Bobbie Lindsay told the Daily News.
She recalled nightly social gatherings with neighbors on El Pueblo Way during her childhood in the 1960s and '70s.
"What always made me laugh, is he and my mom would be outside with their neighbors," Lindsay said. "Sometimes their neighbors would show up with a drink in their hand, and they would all roam down the street. It was like a block party every night after work. We got a lot of TV dinners in those days. We played with our friends outside."
Lindsay related another story about a trip she took with friends and family to the Kennedy estate in December 1962 to sing Christmas carols.
President John F. Kennedy and his family were there at the time, she said.
"We decided we were going to sing Merry Christmas to the president," she said. "There were probably about 15 of us by the time we walked over there. We sang 'We Wish you a Merry Christmas' — I remember that — and within two minutes, the door opens, and out comes President Kennedy. Behind him is a bar cart full of booze and glasses. They had lemonade for the kids with paper cups. Everybody got their drinks filled. We sang one more song, and then the president went back inside. He talked to everybody."
Mr. Lindsay was pre-deceased by his wife, Barbara, in 2018. He is survived by four children, Donald Lindsay of Lantana; Bobbie Lindsay Buck (Douglas) of Palm Beach; Richard Lindsay of Port St Lucie; and Jane Lindsay Scott (Joel) of Palm Beach, and grandchildren James Spencer Scott and John Lindsay Buck.
Funeral services will be private. A celebration of life will take place at a future date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to West Palm Golf Community Trust, 3535 Military Trail, Suite 101, Jupiter, FL 33458.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Alan Lindsay, father of Palm Beach Town Council member, dies at 96
