Harry Loeb | Chemical engineer, 79

Harry Loeb, 79, of Havertown, a chemical engineer, retired real estate agent, and sailing enthusiast, died Tuesday of heart failure at Broomall Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

After stateside service in the Navy during the Korean War, Mr. Loeb was a quality control officer at the Titan Missile program at Cape Canaveral, Fla. In the early 1960s, he returned to Philadelphia, his hometown, to work in the family business, H. Loeb and Son. The company, a distributor of industrial and chemical machinery, had been established by his grandfather in the late 1800s.

When he retired in 1997, Mr. Loeb earned a real estate license and sold homes on the Main Line for eight years for Weichert Realtors.

He enjoyed racing Sunfish and GP-14 sailboats at the Jersey Shore and on Marsh Creek Lake in Eagle and was a member of the South Jersey Yacht Association and the Marsh Creek Sailing Club. He won numerous trophies, said his wife, Margaret Gorman Loeb, and continued to sail until two years ago.

Mr. Loeb and his wife grew up on the same street in West Philadelphia. He graduated from Lower Merion High School and earned a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. As a teenager he became an Eagle Scout and was later a leader of a Boy Scout troop in West Philadelphia.

In addition to his wife of 54 years, Mr. Loeb is survived by a son, Scott; a daughter, Suzanne Monahan; and three grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. tomorrow at Toppitzer Funeral Home, 2900 State Rd., Drexel Hill. Friends may call at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Arlington Cemetery, Drexel Hill.