John Lloyd Wolff Jr.

1923 - 2013

JOHN LLOYD WOLFF JR.

November 10, 2013

John (90), died in South Burlington, VT on November 10, 2013.

He was born June 7, 1923 on a dairy farm in Western Pennsylvania near Greensburg, PA to Lloyd and Nellie Seanor Wolff. He attended public schools in Salem Township and Greensburg, PA. He entered Carnegie Institute of Technology, now called Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh, PA in September 1940 as one of ten National George Westinghouse Scholarship Awardees, majoring in Physics and Mathematics with work assignments at Westinghouse Research Laboratories during the summers. Following his graduation in December 1943 with a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics, he enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve and was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Navy. After serving as the Search Radar Officer on the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42) for two years, he retired from the US Navy as a Lieutenant Senior Grade and returned to Carnegie Institute to start his graduate work, completing a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering in May 1947.

When the Westinghouse Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory was formed in Pittsburgh, he was assigned to the Instrumentation and Control Department to develop computations capability for the United States Atomic Energy Commission in the design and development of the nation's first nuclear powered submarine, the Nautilus. He later became the Manager of Computation for the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory working on nuclear reactors for the super carrier CVB-42 (Franklin D. Roosevelt), and later atomic powered ships. He retired in 1974 from Westinghouse and relocated from the Pittsburgh area to Chicago, Illinois where he managed the computations laboratories for Fluor Pioneer, and Sargeant and Lundy Engineers. In 1988 he retired to Burlington, Vermont.

While working for Westinghouse, he received the Westinghouse Citizenship Award for outstanding community service. His activities included serving three terms on the Greensburg Salem School Board; member and President of the Delmont Lions Club; member of Delmont Recreation Commission; member of 4-H Commission Board; President of the Westmoreland County 4-H Club Council; President of the PTA for three elementary schools in Salem Township, and Stewardship Chairman of the United Presbyterian Church of Delmont, PA. He also served on the Delmont 125th Anniversary Committee, and the Delmont Recreation Committee.

During his collegiate work, he was awarded membership in a number of scholastic and social honoraries including Tau Beta Pi, Pi Delta Epsilon, Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, Scimitar and Delta Skull Societies, Eta Kappa Nu, as well as participating in other campus activities such as playing trombone in the Kiltie Marching Band, Student Government, Intra Fraternity Council and President of Delta Tau Delta Social Fraternity.

John married Jacqueline M. Moyer in 1945 (predeceased in 1994), with whom he raised four children. He is survived by his four children, 7 grandchildren, and 2 great grandchildren of Shelton, CT; South Burlington, VT; Pittsburgh, PA; and Boston, MA. He was predeceased by his grandson John Wolff IV.

He is also survived by Dr. Janet P. Brown-Wolff, whom he married in 1997, and her 4 children , 6 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild of Kalamazoo, MI; Essex Jct., VT; St. Albans, VT; and Colchester, VT. He was an active member of the First Congregational Church of Burlington, Vermont and the Fort Myers Congregational United Church of Christ of Fort Myers, FL. He has served as a substitute driver for Meals on Wheels in Vermont.

Visiting hours will be held at the Ready Funeral and Cremation Service South Chapel, Burlington, on Nov. 18, 2013. Funeral services will be held on Nov. 19, 2013, at 1 p.m. at the First Congregational Church, So. Winooski Avenue, Burlington. A reception will follow at John and Janet's home, 35 Victoria Drive in South Burlington. The interment will be held later at the Congruity Church Cemetery, Salem Township, PA, date and time to be determined by the family.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in John's memory to the Delmont Lions Club, PO Box 52, Delmont, PA 15626.