Gary A. Poliakoff's Obituary
Gary A. Poliakoff, J.D., passed away peacefully the morning of August 8, 2014, after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 69. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Sherri, and her father Leonard; his sons, Ryan and Keith, their wives, Marci and Candy; and his grandchildren, Jordan, Dylan and Sofie.
Gary was widely recognized as one of the preeminent practitioners of community association law in the United States, helping to conceive and draft the laws that govern shared ownership housing in Florida; writing weekly newspaper articles; authoring several books, including New Neighborhoods: A Consumer's Guide to Condo, Co-Op and HOA Living, (written with his son Ryan), and coining phrases such as "prescription pets" (referring to emotional support animals). Gary was a tireless advocate for shared ownership communities, helping thousands of owners and associations throughout the state.
Gary Poliakoff was born on November 25, 1944, in Greenville, South Carolina to Herman and Dorothy Poliakoff (deceased), and was their third child and second son. Gary had six siblings--sisters Sandra and Beth, and brothers Morton, Stanton (deceased), Steve and Neil.
Gary grew up in the south, and attended the University of South Carolina, where he earned a B.S. in Marketing. He then relocated to South Florida, earning a Juris Doctor degree at the University of Miami. It was there that he met the love of his life, Sherri, and they were married June 24, 1967. They settled in Miami to start their family, and in 1981 moved to Sunshine Ranches, a rural community in southwest Broward County.
With his lifelong business partner, Alan Becker, Gary founded the law firm of Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., devoting their practice almost entirely to condominium and homeowner association law. Gary's leadership in the field was recognized nationally and internationally, he published countless articles, served in high level positions in national organizations (including the College of Community Association Lawyers, where he received the Gurdon Buck Award), and provided testimony before the U.S. Senate. After the fall of the eastern bloc, Gary was invited to assist post-communist countries with their transition from state housing to private ownership. Gary spent many years teaching as an Adjunct Professor of condominium law at the Shepard Broad Law Center of Nova Southeastern University, where he received the prestigious chair as adjunct professor of the year.
In 2000, Gary turned his attention to municipal law, spearheading the efforts to incorporate and to preserve the rural lifestyle of his own community by creating the Town of Southwest Ranches. Gary served for ten years as Town Attorney, a position currently held by his son Keith. Gary loved the ranching lifestyle, owning numerous horses throughout the years, including his current miniature horses Sugar and Nelly, who were gifts for his grandchildren.
Gary was an avid traveller, often bringing his family to exotic locales so they could experience and appreciate the world and other cultures. He and his family lived for four months in a thatched hut in Moorea while he wrote one of his treatises, and he and Sherri collected tribal masks and artifacts from around the world.
Gary has earned numerous awards for his legal work and philanthropy, including the Judge Learned Hand Award from the Jewish Federation. Gary genuinely cared about his clients and the people who worked with him, and he regularly sacrificed so that others could enjoy success. He will be missed by all of the people whose lives he enriched.
Services will be held Monday, August 11, 2014, at 12:00 P.M. at Temple Sinai North Dade, 18801 NE 22nd Avenue, North Miami Beach, FL 33180. In lieu of flowers, donations in Gary's memory may be made to American Committee for Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, 3275 W. Hillsboro Boulevard, Suite 200, Deerfield Beach, FL, 33442. Contributions can also be made online to www.acsz.org/gary.
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