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One Minute With Saul Seltzer

October 10, 2008

Name: Saul Seltzer

Occupation: Civil Engineer and owner of S. Seltzer Construction Corp., Kenilworth

Address: Warren

Family: Married 53 year to Sylvia. They have three children: Laurie Jill is divorced and lives in Montclair, Calif. with her daughter; Mindy, a teacher of pilates at the Scotch Plainfield JCC, is married to Bryan Samer, who works for the city of Linden. They live with their son and daughter in Westfield. Son Scott works for Seltzer Construction and has a wife and three children.

Community activities: Chairman of the Watchung Area of the Jewish Federation when it existed. Longtime board member of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey. On board of the Federation's Builders and Related Trades group. Before Temple Israel of Union merged with Temple Beth Ahm, was member was on the board, chairman of the Building Committee, and president of the Men's Club. Choir member of Temple Beth Israel, Scotch Plains. Past president of Kenilworth Manufacturer's Association. Past president of Kenilworth Rotary Club, past president of the Professional Engineers of Union County, past state president of New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers, former director of the National Society of Professional Engineers of which he is a fellow. Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers where he is also a fellow. Member of Associated Builders and Contractors and board member for many years. Served as professional advisor to Kenilworth Planning Board for two years and still on-call. Two years ago appointed to the feasibility study committee of the Watchung Library Board to consider whether to expand the existing building or build a new facility.

Hobbies: Playing golf and traveling.

Self-portrait: "I enjoy the work I'm doing. I see the progress I see the initial phases and the completion."

Motto: "Enjoy the things around you and the people."

Greatest accomplishment: "Some of the awards from the professional engineering societies. For instance, being made a fellow of the National Society of Professional Engineers, then voted the in 1991 Engineer of the Year by the New Jersey Society of Professional Engineers, and in 2001 being voted Distinguished Engineer by New Jersey Society."

Bad habits: "One of my biggest problems is I can't say 'no'."

Favorite TV show: News related programs, such as "60 minutes".

Favorite food: "Fish and desserts, especially what my wife -- who is an excellent cook -- and baker makes."

Best childhood memory: "At a very early age, during WWII, I served as a messenger with my dad who was an air raid warden. Like him I wore a white helmet. At that time there were gas lights in Baltimore with chains on them and we had to go around and pull the chains when the alarm went off. Where I lived in Baltimore was an old area and very historic. It was very close to the waterfront and across the harbor from historic Fort McHenry. The battle there during the War of 1812 war inspirited the writing of the national anthem 'The Star Spangled Banner'."

People don't know that I ... "met my wife when she was 16. I was coming home from college on a bus and she was sitting with a friend of mine and we were introduced to each other."

Last book I read: "The Book Thief," by Markus Zusak an Austrian writer. Foster child Liesel Meminger, 9, can't read when she steals her first book 'The Gravediggers Manual' at her younger brother's funeral. Her foster father teaches her to read from it so if he dies he will be properly buried, he tells her. The book takes place during WWII and describes how important books were for her survival."

The biggest asset in the local Jewish communities: "The Federation, because it encompasses almost everything."

The biggest problem in the local Jewish communities: "The fact that so many Jews don't identify with anything. They don't identify with any synagogue, or Federation or participate in anything of that nature."

If I had more time: "I don't think there's anything more I would do than I am doing now. I find time for everything. A lot of people say 'if I had more time I'd do this...' but if you were really interested in doing something you would do it."