Albert Wilansky

Albert "Tommy" Wilansky, 95, of Bethlehem, died on Monday, July 3, 2017 at Kirkland Village in Bethlehem. He was the husband of Rose I. (Sherman) Wilansky. They were married 48 years. Tommy's first wife, Ruth Leah (Paton) Wilansky died in 1968, after 22 happy years of marriage. Born in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, he was the son of the late Isadore and Esther (Seidel) Wilansky. Tommy studied mathematics throughout his education, earning his BA, BS, and MA degrees from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and his PhD from Brown University. He taught mathematics at Lehigh University for 45 years, retiring as a Distinguished Professor in 1991. At Lehigh, he won many awards including a Lindback award for distinguished teaching. His renown in mathematics took him all over the world with a Fulbright Scholarship to England and lectures at more than 50 universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Tubingen, Stuttgart, Tel Aviv and Bern. For 18 summers he taught math to gifted high school students under annual grants from the National Science Foundation. Tommy authored six books and over 80 articles, and directed 20 PhD dissertations, but he was most widely known for discovering Smith Numbers, an amusing mathematical property he first noticed in his brother-in-law's phone number: 4937775. He was a professional musician for a brief time as a young man and continued playing piano and clarinet and writing songs, often with his wives and daughters. He was a proud member of the Bethlehem Municipal Band. He was also an avid tennis player at Sand Island in Bethlehem. Survivors: Daughters, Eleanor W. Myers and husband Johnny (Philadelphia), Laura Sue Wilansky (Fort Lauderdale, FL), Kathy Kutler Staplin and husband Loren (Allentown), Leslie Collins and husband Michael (Philadelphia) and Carole Dowling (Bethlehem), eight grandchildren, and two great-grandsons. He was preceded in death by five siblings. Services: A private funeral was held on July 9, 2017. Arrangements: Bachman, Kulik & Reinsmith Funeral Home, Allentown. Contributions: Donations in Tommy's memory may be made to the Kirkland Village (Bethlehem PA) "Employee Appreciation Fund," 1 Kirkland Village Cir., Bethlehem, PA 18017 or presbyterianseniorliving.org/kirkland-village.