Alan Eppes

*Information is from a prop. Spoken dialog will take precedence in canon.
** This address has since been used twice for characters not associated with the Eppes family

Early Life:
Alan gets hooked on horse racing as a kid.  It’s a passion he continues to follow until he meets Margaret Mann. He and Margaret are married and have Don by the time they are in their early thirties. He admits to Robin Brooks he has not been around children very much when Don is born and not knowing much about kids sings the entire Beatles album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Cub Band to newborn Don as lullabies.

Alan graduated high school in 1959.

While in college, Alan takes several engineering classes, some of which help him with his later career. Soon after college,he writes a life list of things to do and/or see. The list included: grow a ponytail, see Easter Island, take a cooking class at Condon Bleu in Paris, date Barbara Eden, and learn to play the banjo.

Alan is an active member of Californians for Peace in the early 1970’s.  He assists with voter registration in South Central and participates in at least two sit-ins where he is arrested. As a result of his involvement he has a file with the FBI which Don knows about but hasn’t read much of it as of 2006. Alan does not believe the Warren Commission report on the Kennedy assassination.

City-Planner Career:
Alan enjoys the design and planning aspects of architecture; he chose to be an architect, however he took the city planner job out of necessity.  He retires in 2003, after thirty years as an urban planner, when his wife becomes ill.  He does not enjoy retirement and decides in 2005 to open a consulting business with his friend Stan Fisher (he was named Stan Carter in Vector and Sniper Zero). As of early 2006, Alan is working on a project to build a mall and consulting on a waterfront project in Oakland. In early 2007, Alan is sued for a driving range consultation he worked on.  His participation in the suit is later dropped when he and Dr Finch prove the contractor did not follow his recommendation regarding materials.

In late 2008, Alan is asked by CalSci to consult on a new mechanical engineering complex at the university. Charlie, Amita, and Larry recommend Alan for the job.

In late 2009, Alan’s personal finances are such that he decides to go back to work. He asks Charlie to help him learn the current computer design systems to better find a job. Even though Charlie and Amita have both expressed that he is welcome, Alan wants to be able to move to his own home once they are married.  After trying unsucessfully to learn the computer design program, Alan gets a job with the software company that writes it in order to make the program more user friendly.

Personal Life:
Alan meets Margaret Mann when he is working for a housing developer and she is an intern for a tenant’s rights organization.  They marry October 9, probably in 1969. He pays for her last year of law school and Margaret pays Alan’s way through graduate school.

He knows and/or is married to his wife for thirty-five years.  The marriage is a happy one though there are tensions over money and jealousy.  He is widowed in 2004 when his wife dies from cancer, but she makes him promise to meet other people.  He enlists Don’s help to pack up her clothes to donate to charity in early 2005, however Charlie discovers the boxes still in the garage six months later.  When his sons ask about the boxes, Alan is very defensive and refuses to talk about them.  He does eventually pack the boxes in his car and take them away.

He has a few dates: a disastrous date involving a duck with a woman named Jill he met through a friend; followed by the butcher who sold him said duck.  In early 2006 Alan starts dating Donna, the caterer at a wedding held at the Eppes’ home.  He’s been out with Donna four, possibly five times, even after a forgettable birthday gift of expensive soap. In a dream involving Margaret, Alan says his dating Donna “isn’t serious”.

In late 2006, Alan and Dr Mildred Finch have at least one date to the movies and a dinner at the Eppes home. They have several dinners since and she is a regular guest at the house.  Alan and Millie have a short-lived bet to not buy any consumer items for thirty days, but they soon cancel it.

He is not liked by his wife’s Aunt Irene who feels her niece could have made a better match.

Alan has a second cousin on his mother’s side named Anna, who escaped Germany before World War II; Anna spends the rest of her life looking for her family after the war but finds no trace of them.  Alan is surprised when Don asks for the names of Anna’s family to make a new attempt to find them.

Alan seems to have a closer relationship with Don than Charlie when the boys are growing up; he has admitted he does not understand Charlie’s obsession with math the way his wife does. While he states Don is self-reliant at an early age due to Charlie’s need to special educators, he still talks to his eldest son about sports and knows about Don’s past relationship with Kim Hall.  He refers to Don as ‘Donny’ on a regular basis.

Alan is very proud of Charlie for getting a book published and asks for several signed copies to give to friends.

When his sons are growing up, Alan hopes Don will become a professional baseball player and Charlie will help him start a planning firm.  Alan is not disappointed his hopes are dashed as he thinks both Don and Charlie help people in ways he, Alan, never imagined.

Alan is worried Charlie will end up spending his life alone like Larry.  He and Charlie have several arguments over responsibility and taking care of the house in reaction to this fear.

Alan tries to sell the family home of thirty years in early 2005, he wants the income for his retirement and he thinks Charlie needs to get out on his own.  Charlie surprises Alan by buying the house; however in late 2006 Alan announces he is planning to move out of the house and into a condominium.  His accountant thinks Alan should do something with the money from the sale of the house and Alan wants to live by himself again after forty years of living with someone else; however Alan decides to stay in the house with Charlie but asks for a private staircase. When Charlie asks Amita to move into the house with them, Alan starts thinking of moving to a condo again. AS soon as Charlie and Amita are married, Alan again goes looking for condos; Charlie and Amita have a better idea: they will convert the garage into a guest house for Alan.

In the fall of 2007, Alan decides to go back to school. He starts by auditing an introductory mechanical engineering course and admits to Don he is having fun though the course work is daunting. In early 2009, Alan is touched when Charlie asks him to join a “think tank” group that meets once a month to toss around interesting ideas. He is also Charlie’s lab assistant in order to get enough credit hours. Alan is the defacto basketball coach in early 2009, when the team coach quits after Alan, Charlie and Larry try to use mathematics and physics to help the team win their first game since 1986.

Hobbies Likes/Dislikes:
Alan enjoys golf; he has an eight handicap, and has tried to teach the game to Charlie.  He also bets on NFL football occasionally, is a fan of the Philadelphia 76er’s basketball team, and is a fisherman. He belongs to a book club and also volunteers at a local shelter. He is handy enough with tools to put a new roof on the house with Don’s help. In early 2009, Alan decides to start a Facebook profile to reconnect with old friends.

He does not want Don working Recovery cases anymore.

Alan is an ex-smoker who quits in 1979.

Alan backpacks around Europe before meeting Margaret Mann.

Trivia: