Joseph Labovsky

Joseph Labovsky

A Pioneer of NYLON

September 10, 1912 - March 24, 2013

Mr. Labovsky was born in Kiev, Ukraine and came to this country when he was 12 years old with his mother, sister and brother after their escape from the Ukraine to America. His father escaped from Kiev in 1914. His plan to bring his family over was interrupted by WWI and the family was separated for 8 years.

Mr. Labovsky was educated in the Wilmington public schools starting at the old Grammar School at sixth and French Streets and graduated from Wilmington High School in 1930.

With the financial assistance of Mr. Lammot duPont he enrolled at Pratt Institute School of Science and Technology, NYC and graduated as an Industrial Chemical Engineer in 1934.

After graduation from Pratt he was employed by the DuPont Company at the Experimental Station and assigned to Dr. Wallace Carothers' research group working on fiber 66 which was later given the generic name "NYLON." His immediate supervisor was the late Dr. Paul Flory. Dr. Flory left DuPont to join Stanford University Chemistry department. In 1975 Dr. Flory received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for his work on polymers.

Mr. Labovsky worked in the development of NYLON from the time it was extruded from hypodermic needles to the opening of the first nylon plant in Seaford, Delaware on December 12, 1939. In 1941 he was transferred to the second nylon plant in Martinsville, Virginia where he held supervisory positions in process control and production operations. For his industrial contributions to WW II, Mr. Labovsky was awarded the Army-Navy E for Excellence, the Individual Production Merit Award and the War Production Board Commendation for his many suggestions for the conservation of nylon for the war effort.

In 1954 he was transferred to Wilmington, Chestnut Run Textile Research Laboratory as Quality Control and Training Supervisor and was on special assignment in the development of "TYVEK" in Wilmington, Delaware and Richmond, Virginia.

In 1963 Mr. Labovsky and family were transferred to Geneva Switzerland with the DuPont International Department (DISA) as Management Training Specialist. He returned to Wilmington in 1968 as Industrial Relations Supervisor. In 1975 he retired from the DuPont Company.

From 1975 to 1978 he worked as a consultant for SNIA VISCOSA, MONTE FIBRE and MOTEDISON in Italy and Ireland. From 1980 to 1995 he was a consultant for NILIT, LTD, a nylon manufacturer in Israel.

During his residence in Geneva, Switzerland Mr. Labovsky was president of the English Speaking Jewish Community of Geneva which is now called COMMUNAUTE Israelite Liberal with over 600 Swiss and English speaking Jewish members.

He was a member of Temple Beth Emeth and served on the board of The Jewish Federation of Delaware and The Kutz Home. Predeceased by his wife Edith in 1985, he is survived by his three children, Micki Edelsohn (Lanny) Wilmington, Lora Meyer (Jeffrey) NYC, Stephen Labovsky, San Francisco, CA and three grandsons, Andrew Edelsohn (Teri), Robert Edelsohn, and Gifford Meyer (Blair).

The family extends its deepest thanks to Lois Parsons, Barbara Clark, Carrie Marshall and Valerie McClain for their kindnesses and care given to our father. We would also like to thank Delaware Hospice especially Debra Burt and Lisa Carr for their support.

Funeral services will be held at Temple Beth Emeth, 300 W. Lea Blvd., Wilmington, DE 19802 on Thursday, March 28, at 12:00 noon. Shiva will also be at Beth Emeth 7:00 pm Thursday evening.

Instead of flowers the family suggests contributions to Temple Beth Emeth (Edith Labovsky Memorial Fund), Homes For Life Foundation, 1106 Berkeley Road, Wilmington, DE 19807 or Delaware Hospice, 3515 Silverside Road, Wilmington, DE 19810.

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