Remembering Gennady Platoff
Gennady Evgenievich Platoff MD, MHA COL, U.S. Army was born in Kazan, Russia on Aug 11, 1921, the son of CPT Evgenie Platoff (Adjutant of the Russian Imperial Artillery School) and Tatiana Novikoff Platoff of the Imperial Theatrical Ballet of Petrograd. His family left Russia (1921) for Harbin, Manchuria after his father was killed in the Bolshevik Revolution. They emigrated to Canada and then the US. He grew up in Vancouver and Boston, graduated from Boston University and BU Medical School (1947) and became a board-certified Rheumatologist with specialties in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology. During this time, he danced with the Novikoff Ballet School at the NY Metropolitan Opera and was awarded the silver trophy as the premièr danseur at the 1939 NY World's Fair. After being inducted into the U.S. Army, Gennady served in Alaska, Texas, New Jersey, France, Germany, and Iran. His military highlights included his experiences with the 1st MASH in Korea, acting as Medical Consultant to the Imperial Iranian Military Medical Department, and assignment as the personal physician for Rudolph Hess at Spandau prison when he was the Commander of the U.S. Army Hospital in West Berlin, Germany.
His service to St. Nicholas Cathedral spanned many years, from the time he joined St. Nicholas in 1978 to a few years before his death in August 2011. During this time, Gennady and his wife, Donya Platoff, were appointed as Protocol Officers for the Archdiocese of Washington and St. Nicholas Cathedral by Metropolitan Theodosius. They served in this capacity for 18 years. This job entailed organizing numerous events for clergy, transporting dignitaries to such events, and arranging event logistics. He manned the Diocese of Washington, D.C. booth at several All-American Councils. Each year, he could also be found in the Christmas Room as cashier at the annual St. Nicholas church bazaar. Gennady frequently collected the church offerings during liturgies.
Gennady reposed in the Lord on August 31, 2011. May his memory be eternal.
