Irving Fishman P.E., of West Milford, passed away on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, at the Chelsea at Bald Eagle Senior Residence, in the arms of Sydell, his wife of 70 years. Irving was 91 years old.
Born Sept. 23, 1929, to Samuel and Nettie Fishman of Brooklyn, N.Y., Irving grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.
As a young teenager he held a summer job on a farm near Middletown, N.Y., where he developed a love of nature and the outdoors.
He was a graduate of Stuyvesant High School and later earned a degree in electrical engineering at City College of New York, where he also participated in track and field events.
He worked for various consulting engineering firms designing electrical systems, the N.Y. Port of Authority and the City of New York. In time, he started his own consulting engineering firm in West Milford, N.J.
He took great pride in his electrical designs.
Irving met Sydell on the beaches of Coney Island. They were married on Aug. 20, 1950, and lived on East 5th Street in Brooklyn. They had two children.
In 1961, the family moved to East 65th Street, a few blocks from Mill Basin, Brooklyn.
Irving took his family on many camping trips to the islands of Lake George.
In 1968, the family purchased an old four-acre farm West Milford, N.J., where Irving tried his hand at farming, planting vegetables and raising a few sheep, a steer and some chickens.
Irving hunted deer, hiked and skied at Craigmere Ski Center.
He was active in civic affairs and served on the West Milford Planning Board. He was a member of the West Milford Rotary Club.
Irving loved his family and their celebrations. He avidly read the N.Y. Times and listened to NPR radio.
He was a strong proponent for education and an enthusiastic fan of college basketball. In his later years, Irving studied ballroom dancing, photography and learned to play the piano. He was a member of the West Milford Camera Club.
Irving loved telling jokes to anyone who made his acquaintance. He was an active member of the Greenwood Lake synagogue B’nai Torah.
Irving is survived by his wife Sydell, his children Marla Joy Fishman Brucker and her partner Dominick Mercurio and Jay Foster Fishman and his wife Susan, his grandchildren Sarah Brucker, Kaitlyn Fishman and her partner Khoa Chu and Ian Fishman and his wife Abigail MacLaren, his brothers Arnold Fishman and his wife Marilyn and Paul Fishman and his wife Arlene, and many nieces and nephews.
Irving donated his body to scientific research through the Anatomy Gifts Registry.
The family will hold a memorial service sometime late summer or early fall.