Industry Remembers Lightolier’s Bill Blitzer

Bill Blitzer, former president of Philips Lightolier [1] and member of the American Lighting Association’s [2] Lighting Hall of Fame, died Jan. 21. He was 87.

After earning degrees in engineering and city planning as well as serving in the U.S. Navy, Bill began his career at Lightolier – which had been founded by his grandfather, Bernhard Blitzer – in 1949. He started off in the engineering department and was named president of Lightolier in 1972.

During his tenure as president, Bill helped the company develop clean, modern fixtures as well as efficient fluorescent and downlighting, and was also a proponent of easy-to-understand literature on lighting application.

After Lightolier was sold and incorporated into Genlyte, Bill continued to contribute to the company, even after he retired.

Bill is survived by three children, Daniel, Jonathan and Emily, and seven grandchildren. 

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Bill Blitzer [3]