Joseph Skrapits, 98, formerly of Allentown, died on Sept. 2, 2024, in his residence at Moravian Hall Square, Nazareth.

He and his late wife, Carmella (Bartolotta) Skrapits, were married 73 years at the time of her death in 2022.

Born March 21, 1926, in Northampton, he was the eldest of six children of the late Karl and Julia (Filipovits) Skrapits, immigrants from Austria-Hungary.

During his childhood, the family lived in Stockertown, where his father worked at the local cement mill.

He had many happy memories of fishing and swimming in Bushkill Creek, and watching planes taking off and landing at nearby Braden Field.

His interest in aviation was sparked in grade school, when he designed a prize-winning poster advertising U.S. Air Mail.

The prize was his first airplane ride, in a Piper Cub, that landed in a field next to Stockertown Elementary School.

In 1943, he graduated from Nazareth High School, where he was an outstanding student and played on a winning baseball team coached by the legendary Andy Leh.

Wartime gas rationing prevented them from playing for the district championship.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on his 18th birthday in 1944.

He trained as a radio technician and aviation ordinance man and was promoted to petty officer before his honorable discharge in 1946.

In 1947, he entered Lafayette College on the GI Bill.

He and Carmella married in 1948, and their first child was born while he was a student at Lafayette.

He graduated in 1951 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering.

After graduation, he went to work for General Electric as an electrical engineer specializing in microwave technology at GE plants in Schenectady, N.Y. and Scranton.

He was a member of the engineering team that developed the magnetron now commonly used in microwave ovens.

In 1962, the family moved to Allentown, where he worked for Western Electric (later Lucent) in microwave communications.

He retired from Lucent in 1985.

In retirement, he enjoyed playing golf, regularly into his 90s, and volunteering with the Lucent Pioneers.

He and his wife traveled with the group on vacations in the Catskills and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

He remained very close with his brothers and sisters, and for many years he helped organize and support the extended Skrapits family reunion.

He was a parishioner at the cathedral church of St. Catherine of Siena, Allentown.

He and his wife are gratefully remembered for their love, hard work and devotion to raising their family in a protective, nurturing and enlightened environment.

They set an example of compassion for others that stemmed from their own backgrounds as children of immigrants.

He is survived by their children Joseph (Susan Weaver) of Allentown; Luci Ann Merlo of Blacksburg, Va.; Rose Lounsbury of Allentown; and Joni Jackson (Bryan Jackson) of Nazareth; grandchildren Joseph Zipper (Julia Zipper) of Arlington, Va. and Anna Tabah (Trevor Tabah) of Wilmington, Del.; and brothers Leo and Louis.

He was predeceased by his brother, Charles, and his sisters Rose Nemeth and Maryanne Mengel.

His funeral service will be private.

Arrangements were made by Stephens Funeral Home Inc., Allentown.