Ralph Copleman, Sustainable Lawrence co-founder, dead at 65
By Lea Kahn
A visionary, a gentle person and a nurturing friend who touched many people in his 65 years of life.
That’s how Ralph Copleman was described by some of the people who knew the Titus Avenue resident, who died suddenly Jan. 6 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
Mr. Copleman was the co-founder and the first executive director of Sustainable Lawrence. He retired from the position Dec. 31. Sustainable Lawrence is a nonprofit organization that seeks to create an environmentally sustainable community.
Sustainable Lawrence grew out of an informal conversation between Mr. Copleman and Pam Mount, co-owner of Terhune Orchards and a township councilwoman, while they were waiting for members of the Lawrence Township Community Foundation to arrive.
A meeting was held to discuss sustainability in January 2005 at The Lawrenceville School. A second meeting was held a few months later. It was decided to create a nonprofit organization to encourage sustainable living, and that’s how Sustainable Lawrence was formed.
Lawrence resident Dennis Waters, who serves on Sustainable Lawrence’s board of directors, said Mr. Copleman was a visionary but not the “ivory tower” visionary who has difficulty in making connections with people.
”Ralph could connect with people. He had a magic about him that allowed him to connect with a wide array of people,” said Mr. Waters, who met Mr. Copleman through their shared interest in bicycling.
”Not only was he able to sit down with anybody,” Mr. Waters said, “he was also able to explain how he saw things and how they would unfold in Lawrence Township, Mercer County and New Jersey. He was able to find a way to make his vision understandable.”
The ability to connect with everyone is what Mr. Copleman brought to the community, and Sustainable Lawrence is the legacy of that capability, he said, adding that the seeds that Mr. Copleman planted have borne fruit elsewhere.
”Now there are ‘Sustainable fill-in-the-blank’ all over New Jersey,” Mr. Water said.
But there was another side to Mr. Copleman the nurturing friend and gentle person.
Longtime friend Jeff Orleans said he met Mr. Copleman soon after the Orleans family moved to the area from North Carolina in 1984. Their sons were in the same kindergarten class before the Orleans family moved to Princeton.
”One of the most obvious parts of Ralph was his incredible gentleness and openness to people,” Mr. Orleans said. “He cared about people. He nurtured our best parts and helped us to get over the rough spots. He would give you a hug before you even knew you needed a hug.”
Mr. Orleans also noted Mr. Copleman’s “wonderful” sense of humor.
”Ralph would come to the house and visit and then leave. You would pick up the grocery list (that had been lying around) and go to the store,” he said, adding that his friend had apparently taken hold of the list and added to it.
”You are standing in the vegetable aisle and in the middle of the list are three fanciful foods. You would have something to laugh about. Ralph wanted you to laugh at some point where you didn’t think you were going to laugh.”
Mr. Orleans recalled the family vacations at the beach that the Copleman and Orleans families enjoyed. On the last night of vacation, Mr. Copleman arranged for an awards ceremony. He made certain that every member of the family received an award whether it was for the best tan, the best cleanup effort after dinner, or the best home video.
”The ceremony was to mark the occasion of the end of vacation,” Mr. Orleans said. “Even if you didn’t have a great vacation, there was the awards ceremony.”
Mr. Copleman had a serious side, as well. There were things that were important to him, Mr. Orleans said, and “if you showed an interest, he hoped you would listen to him. He wanted to move you forward, engage you as a person and get to know each other better and be able to talk.”
The two men shared a passion for baseball and they would talk about it at all levels from serious to competitive to funky, Mr. Orleans said. But when Mr. Orleans said he needed to know more about sustainability for work, “we had a different conversation detailed, analytical and thorough.”
”When I was ready (for that type of discussion), we had it. It was not about Ralph. It was about the other person. He was able to have an intensity that led him to do things he wanted to do, but not to impose it on others. Ralph was a special guy,” Mr. Orleans said.
Mr. Copleman is survived by Joyce Copleman, his wife of 42 years.
He is also survived by two sons, Paul Copleman and his wife, Andrea Hall, and grandson Benjamin Copleman of Maine, and Andrew Copleman and his wife, Meckenzie Behr, of Pennsylvania.
A celebration of Mr. Copleman’s life is planned for later.

