Katz, Edward

Edward Katz, 95, died in Blacksburg, Va. on March 5, 2010. He was born November 14 ,1914, in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Max Katz and Belle “Pia” Schwartz Katz, and was the fifth of their six children. His parents and all of his siblings predeceased him.

He graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School, in Brooklyn, in January 1933 and received a B.S. in Chemistry from the College of William and Mary in 1936. During World War II, he served in the Army Medic Corp. He was married to Norma King Tucker, at her family home in Atlantic Highlands, N.J., on August 31, 1946.

For more than 40 years, both before and after the war, he worked at the College of William and Mary as an instructor and administrator in the Chemistry Department, retiring in 1980. In the 1950’s, he also worked at Jamestown, conserving artifacts discovered by the archeological dig in progress at that time. In recognition of his service to William and Mary, he received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award from the College at commencement exercises in 1963 and was appointed instructor emeritus upon his retirement.

After retirement, he continued to reside in Williamsburg until moving to Seven Lakes, N.C., with his wife in 1990. Following her death in 2000, he relocated to Blacksburg, Va., in 2002.

He is survived by his four children and their spouses, Richard Whitmore Katz and his wife, Laura Osborn, of Boulder, Colo., Jonathan Tucker Katz, of Earlysville, Va., Margaret King Katz Radcliffe and her husband, David Radcliffe, of Blacksburg, Va., and Peter Edward Katz, of Charlottesville, Va.; and by his two granddaughters, Anna Mackenzie Radcliffe and Allegra King Radcliffe, of Blacksburg.

When the house they lived in, built as temporary housing during World War II, was scheduled for demolition and they were unable to find another residence in Williamsburg, he and his wife purchased land several miles outside of town, frequently traveling to it by bicycle. They themselves cleared the land and built the first section of the house they would live in from 1957 to 1990.

Mr. Katz led an active life, enjoying hiking, camping, gardening, carpentry, photography and dark room work, and was an avid bird watcher to the end of his life. He combined his knowledge of birds and his skill at carpentry in the construction of birdhouses, many of which he gave to friends.

He will be remembered by his grandchildren for his pancake breakfasts, by his children as a loving, generous and exacting father, and by his friends and colleagues as a man of great intelligence and integrity.

In keeping with his wishes, there will be no funeral or memorial service. In lieu of flowers, please make contributions to Warm Hearth Foundation in Blacksburg, Va.; Carilion Clinic Hospice, in Radford, Va.; or Child Development Resources, Inc., in Williamsburg, Va. Arrangements by McCoy Funeral Home, Blacksburg, Va.