![]()
KATZ JACOB "JAKE" Age 91, of Mt. Lebanon, formerly Munhall, passed away 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); also survived by close friend and companion, Phyllis Madden; and many nephews and nieces. 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, so beloved by its residents that they would, many years thereafter during periodic reunions, still sing a song about it ("Have you ever been in that city, the place they call Woods Run...") 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, where he, before graduating in 1949, became one of the founding members of an engineering students' club called PE x that held regular reunions and established a scholarship for Pitt Engineering students. 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 US Steel at its Duquesne Works. After eight years as a maintenance foreman, he decided to return to the air pollution control field as a consultant engineer, first obtaining a Master of Science in Hygiene with a major in air pollution, and then starting "Jacob Katz Associates," later to become Precipitator Technology, Inc. Jake became, over the next 14 years, one of the country's preeminent experts in the operation of electrostatic precipitators, joining technical societies including the Air Pollution Control Association (taking on leadership positions) and the ASME Power Test Code Committee (helping to develop stack sampling methodology), writing and presenting technical papers (nine on air pollution, seven of which dealt specifically with precipitators), and eventually authoring in 1979 "The Art of Electrostatic Precipitation," which is an industry-wide 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 on a full-time basis to be closer to their grandchildren in 2006, eventually settling at the Covenant, later to become the Concordia of South Hills. He became active in their new community, serving as the president of the residents' council and working ceaselessly to improve the quality of his fellow residents' lives, continued to write and lecture on the stock market, and where he and Estelle enjoyed weekly games of progressive gin with their children and grandchildren. As with Estelle, Jake donated his body to the Humanity Gifts Registry for the training of medical students and the advancement of science, thinking of how he might help humanity even at the end. 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. Please view and sign the family's online guestbook www.musmannofh.com Send condolences post-gazette.com/gb
