Michael B. PETACH

1959 - 2024

December 30, 1959 - June 25, 2024 Michael (Mike) B. Petach, loving husband, father, uncle, son, brother, brother-in-law, and friend to so many, passed away, too soon, on June 25, 2024, at the age of 64. He was born on December 30,1959 in Upper Darby PA. to Alex and Anne (Clifford) Petach. The family moved to Woodland Hills California when Mike was 6. Mike and his six brothers grew up building go-Carts on their street, making dams on camping trips and genuinely living a boy's life. Mike attended Taft High School and played trumpet in the Jazz and marching bands. Music continued to be a passion for him, and he spent the 80's and 90's experimenting with keyboards and synthesizers. Mike's greatest joy musically, however, has been the guitar, an instrument he was really able to master during the pandemic. After graduating from high school, Mike attended UCSD where he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Mike met his wife of 36 years, Elaine, while at UCSD. After graduating Mike was hired by Dynamics Technologies but quickly moved to TRW (now Northrup Grumman). Mike had a wonderful career. He was the Cryocooler Operating Unit Chief Engineer and was critical to the initial development of the NG cryocooler product line as well as the MIRI cryocooler flown on the Webb Telescope. Mike and his colleagues were honored by JPL Leadership in 2023 with a special recognition for outstanding MIRI mission success. Mike received the 2007 Northrop Grumman Chairman's Award, the company's highest recognition. He contributed to automotive and multiple other fluid-physics problems, holding (13) US Patents as well as (2) Northrop Grumman Trade Secrets. Mike authored or co-authored over (25) technical papers published in scientific and engineering journals. He was with the company for more than 38 years. He was a skilled, nationally known source of knowledge and expertise in cryogenics and recently formed collaborative customer teams research on crucial emerging sensor technology for the nation and key company stakeholders.
Mike and Elaine married in January 1988. They lived their married life in Redondo and Mike never failed to appreciate the blessings that the neighborhood provided. Despite the fact that he saw the ocean every day, he would invariably say, "This is so amazing, Lanie, we are so lucky!" It was with that same wonder and joy, he welcomed his baby daughter, Kate, in 2000. Mike participated in everything Kate did, including acting as Elaine's assistant Girl Scout leader and room parent. Our little family grew when Jackie, originally our dear friend, joined us for good as a daughter and sister. When they were little, Mike took Kate and Jackie everywhere. He loved his "field trips" and he turned even the most uneventful day into a story. He had warmed up his adventure skills years before, taking his nieces and nephews on crazy outings. Going to Disneyland or the tide pools with Uncle Mike, was going to hold some exciting and unexpected twists.
To his colleagues at Northrup, Mike was "Professor." But in the family, he was the fun, thoughtful, supportive, truly enthusiastic "Dad" to Kate, "Padre" to Jackie, "Uncle Mike" to all the nieces, nephews and cousins. For his wife and his mom, brothers and in -laws, he was "Mike"; strong, dependable, resourceful and so funny. Mike was "all in", generously giving his incredible energy to all around him, helping friends, family and strangers alike. He will be deeply missed.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Resurrection Lutheran Church (330 Palos Verdes Blvd) on July 27th at 11:00 am. In Lieu of flowers, donations to organizations dedicated to Climate Science; The Nature Conservancy or Rocky Mountain Institute would honor his commitment to stewardship of the planet.