Wilbur W. Landay

Wednesday, June 17, 1998

Wilbur W. Landay

Owner of Taper's Jewelry Store
Wilbur W. Landay, a Washington businessman for more than half a century and a lifelong member of Beth Israel Congregation, died at 10:15 p.m. Monday, June 15, 1998, in Mt. Macrina Manor, Uniontown, following a lengthy illness.

He was in the jewelry business on Washington's West Chestnut Street for 51 years, eventually buying Taper's Jewelry Store in 1956, which he operated until his retirement in 1996.
Mr. Landay, of East Beau Street, Washington, was born in Washington on February 10, 1914, a son of Abraham H. and Annetta H. Samolsky Landay.
His great-grandfather, Nathan Samuels, was a founder of the Beth Israel Congregation that first held Jewish services in the Samuels' home more than a century ago. Mr. Landay was proud of his family's association with Beth Israel and often pointed out that Nathan Samuels brought his niece, Zelda, from England to marry the new congregation's first rabbi, Jacob Goldfarb, who served the Jews of Washington for 50 years.
Mr. Landay graduated in 1933 from Washington High School.
He served in the U.S. Army, 61st Air Service Squadron, 45th Service Group, from 1942 to 1945, earning the rank of technical sergeant. He served campaigns in New Guinea and the Philippines. Mr. Landay received the Good Conduct Medal, Philippines Liberation Ribbon with a Bronze Star, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Service Medal with two Bronze Stars and the Victory Medal.
For many years, Mr. Landay headed Beth Israel's Chevra Kadisha (burial society) taking care of the ritual of Jewish burials for the congregation's members.
Mr. Landay also was a member of LOOM 22; Washington Lodge 164, F&AM; and B'nai B'rith Men.
On December 28, 1947, Mr. Landay married the former Dorothy Greenberg, who survives.
Also surviving are two sons, Dr. Alan Landay, an international AIDS researcher of Oak Park, Ill., and attorney David Landay of Moon Township; four grandchildren, Benjamin, Nathan, Kara and Paige Landay; and a brother, Nathan Landay, of Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Deceased is a sister, Edith Ruth Landay.