Jacob (Jake) Katz
KATZ. Jacob (Jake) Katz, 91, of Mt Lebanon, formerly Munhall, on November 15, 2018, after a well-lived and very rich life. Predeceased by his beloved wife, Estelle, of 60 years, parents Louis and Freda, and brothers Harry (Mary), Ken Morris (Doris) and Saul (Phyllis). Loving and proud father of Owen (Brenda), Linda and Curtis (Mary). Loving and proud Pap Pap to granddaughters Marissa, Emily and Sarah (Karen). Born and raised above his father’s shoe repair shop in the Depression era melting pot of the Woods Run section of Pittsburgh’s North Side. After graduating from Oliver High School, in 1945, where he won, among other things, the Unselfish Service Award (his “easy manner and hard work will make him succeed in whatever the future holds for him”), Jake joined the Navy and was stationed in Hawaii at war’s end. He went on to study electrical engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, becoming one of the founding members of an engineering students’ club called PEx . From 1950 to 1956 Jake traveled the country working on electrostatic precipitators for Research-Cottrell. It was, during those years, he first saw Estelle at a dance in New York, followed her across the dance floor in an effort to convince her to dance with him, and thereafter to marry him. They settled back in Pittsburgh (Munhall) where he went to work for U.S. Steel at its Duquesne Works. After eight years he returned to the air pollution control field, becoming one of the country’s pre-eminent experts in the operation of electrostatic precipitators and authoring in 1979 “The Art of Electrostatic Precipitation” that is an industrywide textbook. He and Estelle started his retirement in Florida in the early 1980s, when they took up golf, tennis and traveling, and he refined his passion for stock market investing (about which he both lectured and wrote, including authoring “Investing for Retirement”). He and Estelle returned to Pittsburgh, settling at what is now the Concordia of South Hills, becoming active in their new community, including serving as the president of the residents’ council. As with Estelle, Jake donated his body to the Humanity Gifts Registry for the training of medical students and the advancement of science. He had a matchless work ethic, was an unrepentant punster, consummate gentleman, always put others first, saw the best in everybody, and was beloved by all who knew him. A private family celebration of his life will be held at a later time. Arrangements entrusted to ANTHONY M. MUSMANNO FUNERAL HOME, INC.
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