Engineers

Richard E. Quillman, 84, of East Fallowfield Township, a retired consulting engineer who defined his life less by his trade than by his love of bird dogs and horses and his artistry in woodworking, died Tuesday, Oct. 23, of kidney failure at Seasons Hospice, Phoenixville. Long a habitué of Chester County's pastoral heartland, Mr. Quillman liked nothing more than to saddle up and roam the countryside with his English and German shorthaired pointers. In middle age, he raised sporting breeds at his Far Fields Farm in Chester Springs and trained them for upland hunting of game birds.

EVEN 50 YEARS ON, Ken Scott can't really deal with the notion that the music he helped to create has affected millions of lives, has truly changed the world. Nor can he fathom that many of those life-altered listeners would be curious enough to come hear the legendary record producer/engineer lecture (as Scott's doing Tuesday evening at Drexel University) or read his newly published memoir, Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust (Alfred Music Publishing, $24.99), written with a little help from Bobby Owsinski.

John J. Rozmus, 85, a mechanical engineer and inventor, died Monday, Oct. 15, at his home at Dunwoody Village in Newtown Square. Mr. Rozmus worked as a mechanical engineer and inventor for more than 50 years. He started out designing electronic control and navigation instruments that were used for military aircraft during the Cold War. "What he designed was really the first of that kind that the Navy would use in the '50s and '60s," said Mr. Rozmus' son, Tom. He continued his work by opening two businesses, Harowe Serve Controls in West Chester and MicroFab Corp.

Anthony Patrick Coppa, 85, of Merion, a mechanical engineer who also played piano and counseled troubled children at the Youth Study Center, died of natural causes Monday, Oct. 8, at his home. Mr. Coppa spent more than 40 years as an engineer, specializing in structures. He worked for Westinghouse and General Electric in Valley Forge. He was born in Philadelphia on March 22, 1927, the son of Nicola and Felicia Coppa, immigrants from Italy. Mr. Coppa, who grew up in South Philadelphia, attended public schools, graduating from Central High School.

As with many husbands on Thanksgiving, Daniel D. Friel Sr. was asked by his wife to carve the big turkey. But when the soon-to-retire DuPont Co. executive tried to find a knife with a decent edge, he came up empty. "He attempted to sharpen them with what tools he had, and he found they didn't work. He basically made a mess of the turkey," Mr. Friel's son, Daniel Jr., said. That experience led Mr. Friel Sr. to his life's Act II: founding EdgeCraft Corporation in Avondale, Pa., and developing the popular Chef'sChoice® line of culinary tools, including knife sharpeners, food slicers, and waffle makers.

Werner K. Kirmse, 90, of Spring House, an engineer who designed the mechanical systems for One Liberty Place, died Monday, Sept. 24, at Kindred Hospital of complications from an aneurysm. For more than 40 years, Mr. Kirmse was with Willard Inc., a mechanical contractor, designing heating and air-conditioning systems for major construction projects, including a Marriott Hotel and One Liberty Place. The 61-story Liberty Place, which was completed in 1987, changed the skyline of Philadelphia.

Charles Burton Ford Jr., 95, of Queenstown, Md., an engineer, company president, and boating-safety advocate, died Thursday, Aug. 23, at Rose Tree Place in Media. After serving in the Army during World War II, Mr. Ford joined James M. Castle Inc., a fire-protection engineering company in Philadelphia. The firm had been founded by his father, Charles, and James M. Castle in 1913. When his father died in 1946, Mr. Ford became president of the company. He and Leah Bosler married in 1942 and raised a family in Moylan.

Center City is the spoiled golden child of Philadelphia: always getting the accolades, the extra allowance, and all that special attention from Mom (City Hall) and Dad (the media). Understandably enough, this can make the other neighborhoods a bit jealous. Where's our Sister Cities Park? asks Fairhill. Why does murder seem to matter more when it happens in Center City? wonders Kingsessing. Those are fair questions. But the disparity in treatment between the city's neighborhoods and its core isn't going away any time soon, and for good reasons.

    The Vikings gave Donovan McNabb guaranteed money in my Madden NFL 13 career mode. Matt Miller, in real life an NFL writer for "Bleacher Report" with about 35,000 followers, tweeted: He was surprised the Vikings gave him that much guaranteed money, but hinted that maybe McNabb was worth it. Just below, Trey Wingo of "NFL Live" tweeted that Carolina could start "printing playoff tickets" because the Panthers had persuaded former Steelers...

Robert S. Stewart, 89, of Malvern, a chemical engineer and retired owner of a company, died Friday, Aug. 24, of pancreatic cancer at Waverly Heights retirement community in Gladwyne. Mr. Stewart grew up in New York City. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., on a scholarship before enlisting in the Navy. During World War II, he was a lieutenant commanding gunboats in the South Pacific. After his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from RPI. In 1948, he married Ruth Ann Dwyer.