Mort Katz

Mort was born October 15, 1946 in Des Moines, Iowa and passed away unexpectedly May 29, 2012. He attended North High and graduated from Drake University in Des Moines. While in college ROTC Mort discovered a desire to be a pilot. He joined the Air Force, earned his pilot's license, flew T37's and T38's, B-52's in Vietnam and he flew more than 300 combat missions. Mort was also an air traffic controller in Baton Rouge, Little Rock and Houston. For the last 25 years he enjoyed being an electrical sales manager in the Dallas area.
He had many loves. He passionately watched ALL sports - Cowboys football, Mavericks, Rangers and any golf tournaments. He was a golf fanatic from his Air Force days and tried to play as often as possible. He loved boating and water skiing and taught all three of his children to ski at Lake Ouachita in Arkansas. His love for snow skiing was the same and he shared his talents with his family teaching and taking them to Steamboat, Angel Fire and Telluride. Mort enjoyed his love of coaching his daughter's competitive soft ball teams for many years. He loved refereeing high school and college basketball and did so for 30 years. He was a coin collector especially of Indian head pennies. His love for people was immense and he always had a joke, funny story or just a hug and huge smile for all of his friends.
But most of all, Mort Katz loved his family. His greatest blessings and joys have come from Melissa Casey, Jeffrey Ryan, Christine Elizabeth and his wife and best friend of 40 years, Linda Katz. The newest loves of his life are grandchildren Cole Austin, Ayden James, Ashlyn Blake and Abigail Laughlin. He was a loving, active, caring man who will be greatly missed.
Mort is also survived by two wonderful son-in-laws, Jason and Ryan Rueschhoff, sister and brother-in-law Linda and Larry Forman, sister Jan Miles, nephews and nieces, Scott Forman, Jennifer Coffey, Reid Forman, Jacque Scheinberg, Bruce Miles, Sherry Newman and their spouses, children, and many dear and loving forever friends.
The family will receive friends on Sunday, June 3, 2012 from 2-4:00 p.m. at Allen Family Funeral Options in Plano, Texas. A funeral service to honor Mort will be held Monday, June 4, 2012 at 3:00 p.m. at Custer Road United Methodist Church, 6601 Custer Road, Plano, Texas. 75023 with Rev.Tim Morrison officiating. Burial will follow the service at Ridgeview Memorial Park, Allen, Texas. If desired, donations may be made in Mort's memory to USO at www.uso.org