Rolfe Kopelan

Rolfe “Rik” Kopelan passed away peacefully in the early hours of Thursday, February 16 at the age of 79 with his sons Brett, Adam, and Taylor at his bedside. His family, friends and business colleagues knew him as gregarious in life, influential in business, athletic in nature, and a man of strong convictions. Rik was the embodiment of Newton’s First Law, but with a twist: a body in motion stays in motion, and when counteracted by an opposing force, knock it down. Rik was a disciple of the notion that forward motion invariably led to success.

Rik was the eldest child of Iris and Paul Kopelan. A native son of New Jersey, he was born in Montclair, raised in Glen Ridge but he left the Garden State to settle on the Upper West Side of Manhattan across from his beloved Central Park. Rik was a natural athlete, he played varsity football in high school, was quite competitive in tennis and other racquet sports, and he developed a love of playing squash. He loved the beach, building a home in Sagaponack on the east end of Long Island, where he beached during the day, sipped cocktails at sunset, and sailed the Long Island sound. More than anything else, he loved to travel to the mountains of the western United States to ski with his family. Always the exercise enthusiast, he was rarely not at the gym, or running or biking the loops of Central Park.

Rik was staunchly independent, and as a young man not wanting to rely on anyone for his economic well-being, co-founded Human Resource Management in 1968. Jarvis Walker, Foster McKay and the Capstone Partnership were highly successful divisions of HRM in the field of executive search. In fact, Capstone Partnership become one of the most sought-after executive search boutiques in the investment banking industry. In many ways, his success in business defined who he was but most importantly, it enabled him to provide educational and social opportunities for his children that would enable them to flourish professionally and in life.

Rik was a political junky never missing an opportunity to express to anyone that would listen, his critiques of politicians on both sides of the isle. In his later years, he wanted to help recruit better politicians for both political parties. He was innately philanthropic, supporting a number of causes ranging from the ethical treatment of animals to climate change all the while supporting academic research aimed at curing his granddaughter’s rare disease.

Unfortunately, a counteracting force stopped the motion of Rik Kopelan. He will be sorely missed. He is survived by Brett, Adam, Taylor, Bryn, Denni, Amy, Barbara and his five grandchildren, Nate, Ava, Rafaella, Aiden, and Hudson.