Although Ken Simon was employed as a laborer at his grandfather Alvin Lichtenstul's industrial wiping materials firm, he ate lunch every day with the boss and was allowed to use the executive men's room. "Although it was a family business," said Simon, "my grandfather had a strong work ethic and wanted me to learn the business from the bottom to the top. Even when we were having lunch, which usually consisted of a cheese sandwich and a soft drink, he talked about the business." Mr. Lichtenstul, of Oakland, a founder and former president of Armstrong Kover Kwick Manufacturing Co. in McKees Rocks, died of pneumonia on Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2003, at UPMC Shadyside. He was 105. Mr. Lichtenstul, along with his brother and a brother-in-law, founded the Armstrong Sanitary Co. in Ford City in 1926. The company for years specialized in making industrial wiping rags, before converting to felt wipers used in the metal, automobile and steel industries. "My grandfather was a fair, tough and often stubborn employer who would take the time to teach myself and his employees a certain procedure," Simon said. "And he kept after you until you learned it. "As a kid, I wanted a mini-bike. When I talked to my grandfather about it, he told me to earn the money. I worked in an ice cream parlor until I had the money. His philosophy was that you must work and earn your way if you want anything in life." Simon said that after his marriage in 1977, his grandfather -- who was confident that his grandson would be able to accept the responsibility of running the company -- began to train him in the management side of the business. Mr. Lichtenstul, who was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, and raised in the Hill District, was one of five children in the family of Samuel and Lenora Lichtenstul. His father worked in the produce yards in the Strip District. Mr. Lichtenstul dropped out of school in the ninth grade to work in the produce yards to help his family. Dick Simon, the company's vice president, said his father-in-law enjoyed reading and would spend hours at a time in the library. "He was so well read that he was a member of the Jewish Chautauqua Society at Rodef Shalom Congregation in Oakland," he said. In 1925, Mr. Lichtenstul married Claire Biggard, whose father, Benjamin Biggard, operated a wholesale jewelry business. Dick Simon recalled how Mr. Lichtenstul cared for his wife during her long illness. "He was completely devoted to my mother-in-law. And when he wasn't at work, he spent most of his day with her until she died in 1968." Lila Snyder, a former Squirrel Hill neighbor, said Mr. Lichtenstul was well liked in the neighborhood. "Everybody called him 'Uncle Al,' and in a way he was an 'Uncle Al' to all of us," she said. Snyder said that several times Mr. Lichtenstul took her son to Children's Hospital when he fell and needed stitches. "And if you knew my son, Barry, as a boy, it was no surprise. He was always falling." In the 1980s, Mr. Lichtenstul, who was known for his green thumb, became a volunteer for the Rodef Shalom's Biblical Garden, where he tended to plants that are mentioned in the Old Testament. Mr. Lichtenstul is survived by two daughters, Nancy Simon, and her husband, Richard, and Susan Wolf, and her husband, Robert, all of Oakland; four grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and his 97-year-old brother, Edwin Lichtenstul, of Oakland. He was predeceased by his brothers, William and Howard Lichtenstul, and his sister, Elsie Goldbloom. Visitation is from 9 to 10 a.m. today in the Aaron Courtyard of Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Ave., Oakland, where services will follow at 10 a.m. in the main sanctuary. Interment will be in West View Cemetery. Arrangements by Burton L. Hirsch Funeral Home, 2704 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill.

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