Joseph E. Jendrisak, an engineer who devised techniques at a Rossford glass factory for manufacturing curved glass for airplanes and automobiles, died of liver cancer on Thursday in the Hospice of Northwest Ohio, Perrysburg Township. He was 96.
Mr. Jendrisak moved to Rossford in the late 1930s from Clarence, Pa., taking a job at the former Libbey-Owens-Ford Co., where he was assigned to an engineering unit, David Jendrisak, his son, said.
"What he did there was he developed curved glass for the B-47 bomber," he said. His production methods enabled glass to be curved for use on the nose of the aircraft flown by Allied forces during World War II.
He also helped develop bullet-proof glass for military tanks. After the war, Mr. Jendrisak and the company were awarded a patent for curved automobile windshields, which proved to be stronger, more aerodynamic, and opened up new options for automotive design.
"He was very intense about everything he ever did," his son said. "He never started anything he didn't complete."
It was in Rossford that he married his wife, Mary Elizabeth, in 1939. The two met at a restaurant in a hotel across the street from the plant where she served meals to workers from the factory.
In 1952, Mr. Jendrisak was recruited to join the Shatterproof Glass Co., a Detroit firm that manufactured automotive replacement glass.
"He came up to Shatterproof and pretty much set up the entire glass-making operation," his son said.
He worked for the firm while residing in Northville, Mich., retiring in the early 1970s. His retirement didn't last long. His brothers convinced him to join them at their injection molding business at Tacoma Products near Akron.
In his spare time, he enjoyed hunting and fishing. His favorite hobby was woodworking. "He always had a shop, and he was always tinkering," his son said.
His wife died in 1984. He returned to Toledo about seven years ago.
Surviving are his daughters, Bernadette Jendrisak and Mary Katherine Assenmacher; son, David; brothers, Andrew, Aloyisius, Dominic, and Cyril; sisters, Josephine and Frances Jendrisak; 11 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10 a.m. Monday in St. Joseph Church, Sylvania. There will be no visitation. Arrangements are by the Walker Funeral Home.
The family suggests tributes to the Hospice of Northwest Ohio.
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