Engineer Irwin Issacson, Jr. dies at 91

IRWIN ISSACSON, JR., an engineer and consultant, who helped transform much of the New Orleans skyline and whose consulting engineering firm was considered one of the finest in the nation, died at Touro Infirmary today, Wednesday, January 11, 2017, of a heart attack. He was 91.

Irwin Issacson

Issacson served as both the president and chairman of the board of Weil and Moses Inc. and chairman of IMC Consulting Engineers. He was an engineer on many prominent building projects in New Orleans, including the Louisiana Superdome, the International Trade Mart and the Rivergate. IMC was called upon to help with the design and redesign of several Whitney Bank locations and was involved in the building of the East Jefferson Hospital campus in Metairie.

A native of New Orleans, he was a graduate of Fortier High School and Tulane University, and served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946 at the end of World War II.

He was on the building committee of the World Trade Center, a member of the Board of Electrical Examiners for the City of New Orleans, and a member of the Mayor’s Committee to write a new Building Code for New Orleans. Issacson was also a board member of the Alliance for Affordable Energy.

Active in many neighborhood and civic organizations, Issacson served on the boards of Touro Infirmary and the Jewish Community Center, and was co-chair and vice president of the Broadmoor Improvement Association.

He is survived by his wife, Julanne Isaacson; two sons, Walter Isaacson (Cathy) and Lee Isaacson (Cynthia Knight); a sister, Marjorie Bissinger; a nephew, Allan Bissinger (Nancy); and a granddaughter, three step-children and five step-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife, Betsy Seff Isaacson, in 1985.

The family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Irma Isaacson Scholarship Fund at the National Council of Jewish Women of Greater New Orleans or the Julanne Isaacson Fund at Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday, January 15, 2017 at 1:00 p.m. in the sanctuary of Temple Sinai, 6227 St. Charles Avenue, with visitation beginning at 12:00 noon. Rabbi Edward Paul Cohn will officiate. Condolences may be expressed online at  Tharp-Sontheimer-Tharp Funeral Home of Metairie, which is in charge of arrangements.