A lifelong St. Louisan, Jay graduated from University City High School and Washington University. He co-founded Lapin & Dabler, Inc, a consulting engineering firm (later Lapin, Ellis, and Associates). The firm averaged around 20 employees including 2 survey crews. The business was sold to Kuhlmann Design Group, where he continued to work, finally retiring at age 79. His work includes roads, bridges, sewers, parking garages, and buildings in the St. Louis area, elsewhere in Missouri, and in 7 other states.

 

He mentored many young engineers and took great pride in their professional successes. Jay and his wife Ruby have been deeply committed to higher education. They have long been supporters of Washington University, and also established a scholarship loan at the St. Louis Scholarship Foundation, where they both received scholarships that helped them through college.

 

For the last 11 years, Jay taught and facilitated courses at Washington University’s Lifelong Learning Institute. His popular course on Politics regularly drew 50 or more participants. Jay’s amazing social skills always kept the class from coming to blows.

 

Jay was a natural athlete, whose childhood love of baseball lasted his whole life. When President Truman’s daily walks were in the news, Jay began his own morning walks. For the last 70+ years, he has walked every morning that he could. He collected many new friends on those walks because of his outgoing personality and his love of dogs. He considered himself the Unofficial Dog Greeter for the City of Olivette.

 

Jay and his wife, Ruby, would have had their 66th wedding anniversary in June, 2018. His children, Carol Goodman, Donald Lapin, and Jonathan Lapin, and his grandchildren, Jason Goodman, Adam Goodman, and Hiro Lewis Lapin cherish his memory and miss him terribly.