John H. Dittfach Obituary
Obituary: John H. Dittfach, professor emeritus of Mechanical Engineering
March 5, 2008
John H. Dittfach, 89, of Belmont, professor emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and one of the first faculty members in the School of Engineering, died Feb. 29 after a short illness.
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, he was a graduate of the University of Minnesota, where he received his B.S.M.E. in 1947 and his M.S.M.E. in 1948. Later that year he came to Amherst to join the newly established School of Engineering as an assistant professor of Engineering. He was promoted to associate professor in 1952 and professor in 1956.
He also served as associate department head and undergraduate program director from 1968 to 1990, when he retired.
In 1965, he received the Distinguished Teaching Award and a year later he was recognized for excellence in instruction by the Western Electric/American Society of Engineering Education, New England Section. In 1987, he received the Dean’s Distinguished Service Award from the College of Engineering.
In 1955, he was instrumental in founding the campus chapter of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). He served as a board member of SAE from 1952-62.
He was also the administrator of a 1963 National Science Foundation grant for the purchase of a supersonic wind tunnel, a lower velocity wind tunnel and a hot wire turbulence anemometer.
He served on a number of University and College of Engineering committees and was a member of the Faculty Senate.
A resident of Amherst for 58 years, he was also active in the community.
After their daughter, Susan Mary was born with Down syndrome in 1957, he and his wife, Ruth, discovered that few services for handicapped children existed in Western Massachusetts and they joined the Hampshire County Association of Retarded Children. They were instrumental in growing the organization and merging it into the United ARC of Franklin and Hampshire Counties. For many years, they took turns serving as the organization’s president and in other leadership posts. He served on the board until 2005.
He remained active in service to the handicapped community throughout his life. In the 1960s, he served on the state area board for mental health and mental retardation. For 35 years, he served on the board of Riverside Industries, an Easthampton workshop and training center for disabled adults. In Northampton, he helped to start the first preschool for children with special needs.
In Amherst, he helped develop and served on the board of Open Arms - A Peer Support Project, now a program of the town’s Leisure Services and Supplemental Education program. Both Dittfachs were repeatedly honored for their service to their church, scouting, the community and handicapped citizens.
Ruth (Poole) Dittfach died in 2000.
He leaves two daughters, Katherine Jacobson, of Tucson, Ariz., and Gretchen Shubrooks, of Waban, and two sons, Jeffrey Poole, of Fitchburg, and William Poole, of San Francisco, two grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Funeral services are Saturday, March 8 at 11 a.m. at South Congregational Church, South Amherst, followed by a reception in the church vestry.
In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to South Congregational Church, 1066 South East St., Amherst 01002, or to United ARC of Franklin and Hampshire Counties, 111 Summer St., Greenfield 01301.