Michael D. Pollock

1917 - 2020

Michael D. Pollock
December 22, 1917 - October 30, 2020
Resident of Saratoga
Michael David Pollock, 102, of Saratoga passed away peacefully with his family at his bedside. He and his wife Felicia, who passed away in 2014, lived in Saratoga for 53 years. In 2013, they moved to Villa Serena in Santa Clara. He spent his final years living at The Villas of Saratoga. Michael was born in Philadelphia, PA during World War I. Three months later, his parents moved to Cleveland, OH where he subsequently met his wife Felicia Peters. They both attended Fenn College, now Cleveland State University. Michael received an Electrical Engineering degree. Three days after their marriage in January 1943, Republic Steel Corporation transferred Michael to Brooklyn, NY to become Plant Electrical Engineer for a new War Defense Plant, manufacturing welded steel tubing for military use during WWII.
Consequently, Michael never saw military service in World War II. The day his Selective Service Board sent him his notice to report for a medical exam in August 1945, was the day the first atom bomb was dropped on Japan. Meanwhile on Long Island, New York the couple's four children – 3 boys and a girl -- were born. In 1954, Michael received a second degree -- a mechanical engineering degree (cum laude) from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University. From 1956 to 1959, Michael worked at AMF Atomics, a division of American Machine and Foundry, as Project Manager for nuclear research reactors overseas. The first nuclear research reactor ever built outside the United States was the one Michael built for the West Germans. Others were in the Netherlands, Greece, Israel and Portugal.
Michael quit the nuclear business in 1960 and moved to Saratoga, CA to work for FMC Corporation in San Jose, California. His first assignment was as Project Manager for some of the first automated postal equipment ever built. In 1971, he joined the Ordnance Division as Program Manager for the Army's "Russian Tank Fighting" Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
After retiring from FMC in 1983, Michael decided to take life easy. He had been keeping a journal since he was 16 years old. He spent many days using his computer to transcribe appropriate sections of the journal "for future great grandchildren". Travel, especially foreign travel, excited Michael. His wife Felicia had taken up professional photography after she retired from the City of Santa Clara. Together they traveled the world and the United States seeking exciting new experiences and places to photograph.
Michael was a life-long member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers as well as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He joined the Saratoga Men's Club in 1979.
Michael is survived by his sons Michael (Carol Schelling); James (Gloria); Robert (Jeri); daughter Marcia Johnson (Dale); grandson David (Courtney); granddaughters Lyndsey, Drs. Julia Katsuura (Yoshihiro), Erica; great-grandson Hirofumi Katsuura.


View the online memorial for Michael D. Pollock