Mortimer Katz, an inveterate adventurer and longtime resident of Pacific Palisades, died at home on September 5. He was 81. ”Born in Brooklyn, Katz was a Navy deep-sea diver in the South Pacific during World War II. After the war he studied engineering at Brooklyn Polytechnical Institute and then worked as a chief engineer for several large N.Y.-based machine shops until starting his own company, Applied Dynamics Corporation, in the early ’60s. The company made aircraft safety equipment and bid on government contracts. ”Determined to live in a climate that allowed him to fly every day, Katz arrived in California in 1973 after flying his Beechcraft Bonanza across the country. He took a local real estate agent up in the plane, pointed down at the Palisades and asked her to find him a house ‘there.’ He lived in the same house with its view of Catalina for over 30 years. ”With his mustache and ubiquitous cigar, Katz was a conspicuous sight for many years driving his cobalt blue Harley Davidson through the village or down Temescal Canyon en route to Culver City, where he had relocated his company. He was also a familiar sight at Santa Monica Airport, where he kept his planes, one of which was a biplane he built himself. After he stopped flying several years ago, he became an avid builder and flyer of radio-controlled aircraft and was a past president of the San Fernando Valley Giant Scale Squadron. ”Among his many passions, Katz was an accomplished horseman, dog lover, hypnotist, deep-sea fisherman, sailor and hunter. He passed along his many skills to the vast coterie of younger men and women he mentored. ”He is survived by his wife, Joan Frosh, a retired LAUSD teacher; his children, Andrea R. Vaucher, a journalist and author in Santa Monica, and Robert A. Katz, a Santa Monica-based real estate broker; and his sister, Joyce Bobley of Palm Beach, Florida. ”A private memorial service will be held at the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Rey.
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