OBITUARIES: Leslie Jakab

   Leslie Jakab, 87, died Sunday, Dec. 26, at the Reformed Church Home in Old Bridge.
   Born in Belgrade, Mr. Jakab lived in Yugoslavia and in Hungary he was 39. He graduated with a degree in pharmacy from the University of Budapest in 1943. He served in the Hungarian Army during World War II. He was fluent in Hungarian, German and English.
   During the November 1956 Hungarian Revolution, he escaped communist Hungary with his wife, Alice (who died in April 2004), and their 2-½-old son, Tom. The family lived four years in Allentown, Pa., where his second son, Peter, was born.
   He began work as a research chemist for Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick in 1960, and settled with his family permanently in South Brunswick in 1961. He formally retired from Johnson & Johnson in 1979, but continued to perform research tasks for the company into the late 1990s.
   Leslie’s professional skills ranged well beyond chemistry and pharmacy. He was a talented machinist, an expert in electronics and a fine photographer, all of which he brought to bear on his scientific research. He had a creative intellect and was a true craftsman who could make or repair anything. He was never happier than when puzzling through a tough research problem, bringing back to life a believed to be unrepairable machine, or designing and building something new in his workshop.
   Married 52 years to his wife, Alice, he is survived by his son, Peter Jakab of Alexandria, Va.; his son and daughter-in-law, Tom and Barbara Jakab of Pittsburgh; and three grandchildren, Rachel, Lisa and Bradley.
   A memorial service will be held Saturday, Feb. 12 at 11 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Dayton.