Samuel Plasky, 95, businessman and basketball referee

Samuel Plasky, 95, of Maple Shade, a retired businessman who worked as a local basketball referee and is a member of the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame, died of an infection Saturday, Aug. 21, at Virtua Marlton.

After being recognized as a basketball all-star while in high school, Mr. Plasky continued to play in various adult leagues in the Philadelphia and South Jersey areas.

He won many games and tournaments and in 1940 was named most valuable player in the Jewish League.

Mr. Plasky's passion for basketball led him to a 30-year career as a basketball referee. He later was inducted into the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame.

During his working years, Mr. Plasky owned a couple of enterprises. In the mid-1960s, he purchased Maple-Del News Agency, a newspaper-distribution business in Maple Shade.

After 15 years of running the business, Mr. Plasky sold it. With his son Jay, he then started the New Jersey Athletic Club in Moorestown.

The club offered basketball and racquetball courts, the family said, and Mr. Plasky always signed up to officiate basketball games.

The club was sold in 1983, when Mr. Plasky retired. He and his wife, Betty, lived in Florida from 1990 to 2009.

Mr. Plasky was born and raised in Camden. He attended and played basketball at Camden High School for two years before transferring to Woodrow Wilson High School when it opened.

After graduating in 1934, Mr. Plasky worked at his family's grocery store on South Broadway Avenue in Camden.

"They had trouble keeping him in the store because . . . he would be called to play" basketball, Jay Plasky said.

In January 1942, Mr. Plasky joined the Army Air Force and worked as a navigator flying in the Pacific region, his family said. He reached the rank of staff sergeant.

Mr. Plasky returned to Camden in 1945 and continued to work at his family's store. A few years later, he opened and operated his own grocery store. In 1950, he started working as a referee.

In 1986, he was inducted into the South Jersey Basketball Hall of Fame.

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Plasky is survived by another son, Neil; a daughter, Elissa Ginsburg; nine grandchildren; and a sister.

A funeral was held Monday, Aug. 23, at Platt Memorial Chapels, Cherry Hill. Interment was in Crescent Memorial Park, Pennsauken.