Stanley W. Kawa ’47

Stanley Kawa died Feb. 9, 2012, at the age of 92.

Stan graduated from McKeesport (Pa.) High School in 1938. His illustrious career spanned 50 years and included many night-school studies before his one year at Princeton, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1947.

His initial work experience was as a welder and millwright, but he was always taking courses. On enlisting in the Navy Seabees in 1942, he spent four years taking engineering courses at Carnegie Institute of Technology (later Carnegie Mellon) and later was enrolled in the Navy V-12 program, which ended with his final year at Princeton after World War II.

After graduation he became a consultant to the Navy in Groton, Conn., where he designed a one-man submarine for deep-sea exploration. He next went to White Oak,
Pa., and worked on nuclear storage facilities for Westinghouse. He then began a 24-year career at Mesta Machine, designing heavy equipment for steel mills. He retiried in 1988.

Stan never married. He traveled extensively with his camera, and delighted his large family of siblings, nieces, and nephews with slide shows. The class sends sympathy to the Skerlec and Mallack families on their loss.