Invention, creativity cornerstones of retired plastics designer's life

Dick Platte earned a patent for his design of plastic milk bottle.
By DON FABER
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Back when he worked for Uniloy in Saline, Dick Platte figured out a way to save his firm a ton of money.
Platte was a designer of plastic bottles for milk, detergents, water and other uses, including industrial.
His claim to fame is that he re-designed a dairy bottle from 90 grams capacity to 55-60 grams.
"My design saved lots of dollars in terms of plastic and manufacturing costs,"he says.
The old-style plastic dairy bottles bulged under pressure. Platte's design didn't bulge and made the container lighter. "I saved 10 grams per bottle," Platte says. "The dairy would turn out 50,000 bottles a day. We'd save 1,100 pounds of plastic per day, or about $350 a day. Over a year, we'd save $100,000."
He earned a design patent for the bottle, which saved Uniloy big bucks at a critical time - 1973 - when America was experiencing an energy crunch.
Platte spent 17 years at Uniloy and many more working out of his home. And what he wasn't doing with his creative mind, he was crafting with his hands. He has worked with wood all his life.
DESIGNER: Retiree busy tutoring, exercising
Platte was born in Ann Arbor and grew up during the Depression, a time when families had to make things. Even if items were available for purchase, most families couldn't afford them.
"I'd go to the dump and scrounge things there," recalls Platte.
"I made wooden door stops as a kid and sold them for 25 cents apiece," says Platte. "I sold 'em to neighbors after salvaging the wood from orange crates."
Miniature houses and circus wagons followed. Now, he gets particular satisfaction from cherry-wood music stands he has made for his grandson, who plays the trombone, and granddaughter, who plays the French horn.
His woodworking shop is in the garage. "That's why my car is out," he laughs.
"We had a woodworking class at King Elementary School," says Platte's wife, Dorothy, a retired school teacher. "Dick was so helpful, he helped me design wooden toys. He also made the kids a wooden drill press that they could work by hand so they wouldn't hurt themselves."
Dick Platte remembers taking pictures of the children using the drill press. They "never even looked up," he says. "The pleasure of working with their hands was obvious."
Dorothy Platte, 74, taught 22 years in the Ann Arbor school system at King and Mitchell schools. She retired in 1990 but still puts in three-four hours a week at King. She has tutored a group of third-graders twice a week for years and also helps librarian Marge Rutila with a book discussion involving 20-25 children.
Dick Platte tutors a Russian immigrant who's learning English. Marina Makovik, 35, hopes to become a U.S. citizen soon.
"I've been working with Marina for two years," says Platte. "Her English is coming along nicely."
Platte is a graduate of Ann Arbor High School and the University of Michigan.
When World War II came, he was drafted and shipped out to England as an engineer. He eventually joined the paratroopers but never made a combat jump.
Platte has written a history of growing up in Ann Arbor. It's called "My World - 1924-1948."
"It's a family thing," his wife says.
These days, a lung condition is slowing Platte down a bit. But he and Dorothy still can be seen getting in their exercise five days a week at the Washtenaw County Recreation Center. And they're planning to attend a wedding in Switzerland later this spring.
They're clearly a couple who delight in each other's company. It's a blind date that, says Dick Platte, "has worked for 52 years."