Herbert Janowsky

Herbert (Ivan) Israel Janowsky, Civil Engineer, Gardener, Traveler, and Lifelong Problem Solver Herbert (Ivan) Israel Janowsky, a civil engineer whose love of solving problems extended far beyond his professional life, died August 13, 2026, in Tamarac, Florida. He was 90. Born December 18, 1935, in New York City to Daniel and Helen Janowsky, who emigrated from Russia and Poland, Ivan grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His father owned a grocery store in the Bronx. Ivan graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1953 and from the City College of New York in 1958 with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering. He married Marianne Ross in 1959. Before they had children, they moved throughout the United States while Ivan worked for the FAA on short-term engineering projects at airports and on federal highways. Marianne and Ivan traveled extensively throughout the world and developed a lifelong travel bug. They lived in Kew Gardens, Queens, where they started their family, and bought a house in Plainview, Long Island, in 1964. Their marriage ended in divorce. Marianne still lives in the home they shared in Plainview, gardening around the brick patio he designed and built decades ago. Ivan spent decades in construction and engineering, managing projects in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Florida. His work included subway and tunnel projects in Manhattan and Boston, Battery Park, the Cross Bronx Expressway, a railroad bridge over the Elizabeth River in New Jersey, and projects at Miami International Airport. Once, while working on a New York roadway, he knew his daughter Melanie would be passing on a summer camp bus trip. He made sure he had the foreman's flag as the bus went by so she could see him waving on the side of the road. Ivan loved a challenge that required an engineer's mind. He drew solutions, kept lists, and paid attention to every detail. He believed strongly in making something of your life and continuing to learn, whether it was taking a memoir-writing class, learning French, or figuring out how to cut an onion properly. He wanted the people around him to find something that interested them and pursue it. He loved to garden. In Plainview, he grew tomatoes and corn and insisted the water be at a full boil before he picked a single ear so it could go straight from stalk to pot, before the sugars turned to starch. Ivan moved to Florida in the late 1970s, where he lived near his parents. He married Amy West and lived with her and her four children. They were married for 14 years, until her death in 1992. In Florida, mangoes became his specialty. He prided himself on their sweetness and knew exactly when to pick them. He once entered his best in a mango contest, only to learn they were judged on looks, not taste. His delicious but ugly mangoes didn't stand a chance. Ivan loved Paris and spent several summers there, renting an apartment and living like a local. He walked the city, visited museums, and, always, explored the food. After one early trip, he came home excited about a new discovery, and sat his daughters down with a jar of Nutella and some bread and insisted they try it. They were sold. Despite living in Florida, he never got New York out of his blood. Ivan fondly remembered his childhood there. He recalled lying in bed beside the window of his family's apartment on Division Street on the Lower East Side after a snowfall. With no traffic and the neighborhood illuminated by street lamps, “it was magical,” he said. Just after 9/11, Ivan took one of the first flights back to New York. He felt that people in Florida weren't feeling the pain the way he was, and he wanted to be in New York with his people. He spent his later years with Phyllis Axelrod, until her death in 2023, living in Ft. Lauderdale and summering at her lake cottage in Connecticut, where the soil frustrated his efforts to garden. Food was a big part of Ivan's life. He loved to cook, and kasha varnishkes was one of his specialties. He made Spanish omelets and loved liver and onions, neither of which his daughters were allowed to leave the table without finishing. His mother was a great cook, and when she lived in Hollywood, Florida, he was a frequent guest for her meals. Sundays with his daughters meant trips to the diner, where they always played a game trying to guess the amount of the bill. To this day, no one knows what would have happened if one of them had actually guessed correctly. There were stops for day-old bread to feed the ducks and trips to make-your-own sundaes. He had a sharp mind until nearly the end of his life, and, as an avid storyteller, remembered the minute details of things that happened in his life and loved to share them. He was a big fan of chess and played racquetball regularly into his 70s. Ivan is survived by his three daughters and their families: Melanie Wilson and her husband, Scott, their children, Amanda, Carly, and Matthew, Amanda's husband, Nick, and their daughter, Catalina; Jeanne Gilbert and her husband, Steve, their children, Jason and Sydney LaRocca, and Sydney's husband, Nick; and Karen Janowsky and her daughter, Danielle. He is also survived by his sister, Lydia Johnson. His family will gather for a private service on Long Island this fall.

Herbert Janowsky

December 18, 1935 - August 13, 2026