Joseph Salvucci

Joseph Salvucci, 95, longtime O'Hara Township resident died Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015, at his home, surrounded by his five children. He worked to keep his family fed as a teen, became an engineer and a founder of three companies. Joseph Salvucci's life story is that of a self-made man who never hesitated when something needed to be done or when an opportunity for growth and success presented itself. The son of Italian immigrants, Mr. Salvucci was an outstanding high school and college student and athlete, a Navy veteran and the founder and owner of three successful Pittsburgh businesses focused on engineering. At Peabody High School in the late 1930s, he was "Mr. Everything": president of his senior class; president of the Spanish Club; and a varsity football, basketball and track star. He was an All-City fullback while at Peabody. Mr. Salvucci won a full football scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied in the School of Engineering, but before he could enter college, his father suffered a debilitating injury that left him unable to work. "This was a very difficult time for the family," said George Lenelli, a childhood friend. "His father couldn't work and there was no insurance in those days, so Joe stepped up and took his father's janitor job at the R.J. Nabisco Plant to support the family." The resulting year-long delay was no obstacle to Mr. Salvucci's determination and continued success. At Pitt, Mr. Salvucci was immediately installed as a starting offensive lineman for the Panthers, a position he held his entire four-year career. "Joe's biggest disappointment at Pitt was that the coaches wouldn't let him play fullback, like he did in high school. He wanted to be the guy that scored the touchdowns and won the games," said Mr. Lenelli. "But he was a really big guy, over six-foot tall, so he played on the line." He also continued to excel at academics, earning a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, with an aeronautical option, forming the basis for his later entrepreneurial career. Never one to burden others, he supported himself at Pitt by working as a janitor at the Cathedral of Learning, while pursuing his studies and participating in football. "A day didn't go by when he didn't work hard or think ahead," said his oldest son, Joseph. "And he never lost an opportunity to continue his education to support his visions." After graduating from Pitt in 1943, Mr. Salvucci joined Lockheed Aircraft in Los Angeles, Calif., but with World War II raging, he joined the Navy and served as an electronics technician from 1944 through 1945. Following his honorable discharge from the Navy, he joined Curtiss Wright Corp. in Ohio to design testing equipment for aircraft, including the XP-87, one of the first all-weather, four-engine jetfighters. While at Curtiss Wright, he earned graduate credits in advanced mathematics at Ohio State University. Mr. Salvucci returned to Pittsburgh in 1949 with Peter Loftus Inc. as a design engineer and later worked for U.S. Steel. He also earned graduate credits in civil engineering at Carnegie-Mellon University. In 1953, Mr. Salvucci struck out on his own and founded his first company, Salvucci Engineers Inc. The focus of the firm was the design of industrial structures serving the steel, aluminum, chemical, glass, energy and transportation industries. It grew to be one of the 180 largest engineering firms in the United States before he sold it to his employees. As part of a growth strategy, Mr. Salvucci expanded into design work for government projects, especially civil engineering focused public works projects. In 1975, drawing from the civil engineering training he received at CMU, he formed his second company, Salvucci and Associates, to segregate government project work from the industrial markets. "Joe had two remarkable talents," said Don Genuso, the current owner of what is now SAI. "He could identify what would become important in the future. Seeing the need for a great expansion of public works and infrastructure, for example, he moved into this market and hired a competent staff to compete for design work. He also was a very strong customer-relationship person. He managed the company to assure our work was always first-rate and met our customers' expectations. That's why we're still in business." Mr. Salvucci's third company, PEAK Technical Staffing USA, founded in 1968, demonstrated his visionary skills of foreseeing real needs of the industries his companies served. "My father recognized many years ago that companies and consultants needed qualified engineers for short-term assignments," said Mr. Salvucci, who is president and chairman of PEAK Technical Staffing. "So he set up our company to recruit engineers looking to take on assignments and then marketed that talent throughout the country." Today, PEAK Technical Staffing, headquartered in the RIDC Park in O'Hara, has offices in 10 cities in the United States and Canada and has engineers assigned to companies in 36 states and a number of foreign countries. "We are one of the largest staffing companies dedicated to engineering, thanks in a great measure to my father's vision," said Mr. Salvucci. Mr. Salvucci was a member of the ASME and many other professional affiliations. In addition to his son, Joseph, Mr. Salvucci is survived by daughters, Mary-Lynn and Carla, of Pittsburgh, Denise, of Corona Del Mar, Calif.; son, John, of Newport Beach, Calif.; and six grandchildren, Joey, Jamie, Elizabeth, Kevin, Isabella and Siena. Visitation will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, 2015, and from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, 2015, at NEELY FUNERAL HOME, 2208 Mt. Royal Blvd., Glenshaw, PA 15116. The funeral services will be held 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, at St. Joseph Parish, 342 Dorseyville Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15215.