Irwin M. Lachman, 94

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. —  Irwin Morris Lachman (1930-2025) passed away peacefully on April 18, 2025 at Williamstown Commons, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He is survived by his sons Joshua and David (Sarah) and his grandsons Philip, Ariel, and Noah. He was predeceased by his wife Ruth (1934 - 2023) and his sister, Edith (1926 - 1996). Irwin was a beloved son, brother, uncle, nephew, husband, father, grandfather, and friend.

Irwin was a generous, kind, thoughtful, and caring man who made many lasting friendships wherever he went. He stayed in touch with childhood friends and connected with them whenever he visited his parents and sister in his hometown of Roosevelt, NJ (formerly Jersey Homesteads.) He also visited college friends when he traveled with his family. He participated in the Art community and Jewish community wherever he lived. His involvement in the arts even included service on the board and exhibitions committee of the Sebastopol Art Center, where he made many friends among the members. Late in life, Irwin and his wife moved to Spring Lake Village in Santa Rosa, California and made many new friends there as well. His commitment to family and friends throughout his life is a testament to his character and values.

While growing up in a small, tight knit, Jewish community in central New Jersey, he met his wife, Ruth, when she moved to town with her family. At their first meeting, Ruth was 9 and Irwin was 13. According to his sister, Edith, Irwin’s parents set him up with his future wife, 8 years after their first meeting, by hiring Ruth to work at their shop in the Englishtown Flea Market. At the time, Ruth was in high school and Irwin traveled home from college on the weekends to help out at the flea market. After a few years, Ruth and Irwin’s love blossomed and bore fruit when they were married on February 15th, 1959.

Irwin had a clear passion for science, where he made his career. He earned a PhD in Ceramic Engineering at The Ohio State University after earning his Bachelor of Science degree at Rutgers University. Irwin spent time in the US Air Force in the early 1950s as a lieutenant and was proud of somehow missing basic training. His work as a research scientist began after he earned his PhD with his first job at Thermo Materials Corporation in San Jose, California. He then worked at Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico. Irwin and Ruth lived in Albuquerque, NM for the first two years of their marriage. They then moved to Corning, NY where Irwin worked for Corning Glass Works (now Corning, Inc.) and lived there until retirement. Together they had two sons: Joshua (1963), and David (1964).

Besides his personal legacy of a 64 year long marriage, children, grandchildren, and deep friendships, his professional legacy is something that everyone has benefitted from: Clean Air. Irwin was part of the team at Corning Glass Works tasked with developing the technology with which to implement the Clean Air Act that Congress had passed In 1970. The Clean Air Act mandated standards intended to minimize the air pollution from automobile exhaust. With his expertise in ceramic engineering, creative mind and scientific skill, Irwin invented the material that most catalytic converters are made of. He created an economically feasible, mass producible product that was robust enough to withstand the rigors of rapid temperature swings and the rough physical conditions that characterize driving with internal combustion engines. For this work, Irwin received the International Ceramics Prize in Krakow Poland in 1996 and was inducted into the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame in 2002. He was also awarded the 2003 United States National Medal of Technology and Innovation, which he received from George W. Bush during a ceremony at the White House. Throughout his remarkable career, Irwin was granted 47 patents.

Over his 94 years, Irwin lived through almost 40% of United States history, including personally hearing the explosion of the German airship Hindenburg in 1937, when he was 6 years old. He lived about 12 miles away from the disaster and, when asked if he heard it, he said, “Yes, of course, everyone did!”

Irwin always had an interest in the arts. He was involved in theatre in high school and became a painter and printmaker as an adult, making it a full time pursuit when he retired and moved to California. In Corning, he was a regular attendee of the symphony and would frequently go to Ithaca NY to see plays. Irwin instilled his passion for the arts in his children. And, as a lover of visual art, he would bring his family to museums wherever they were, from the National Gallery in Washington, DC, to the Metropolitan Art Museum in New York, and to many small regional museums.

While focusing on his career in science and avocation in art, Irwin still found the time and energy to put into his family and community. He went on trips with his family throughout the eastern seaboard, traveling from the mile long tides of The Bay of Fundy in Canada to the site of the first successful plane flight in Kitty Hawk, NC. He was also dedicated to taking quarterly trips to New Jersey bringing his family to visit his parents and his wife’s parents. He contributed his time to the temple board, and was active in the relief effort that was undertaken in Corning, NY after the flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

He will be missed by friends and family alike. His legacy lives on in all of us with each breath we take.
The family is grateful for the dedication of the staff members at Spring Lake Village, SLV Skilled Nursing in Santa Rosa and Williamstown Commons during Irwin’s final months. The family also thanks Hospice for the end of life care he received.

If you wish to make a donation in Irwin’s memory, please contribute to your local food bank. To add to the Book of Memories, please visit www.flynndagnolifuneralhomes.com