It is with deep sorrow that we announce the loss of our beloved father, husband, brother and uncle, Dr. Jacques Marie Steininger who passed away peacefully in the early morning of September 16, 2019 at the age of 83.
Born in Nancy, France in 1936, Jacques grew up in a home with five brothers and sisters. He attended the Nancy School of Mines before receiving a Fulbright scholarship to travel to New York to study chemical engineering. There he received a PhD from Columbia University and met his first wife, Maryam Yekta, with whom he had two children. They lived in France, Connecticut and then Lexington, Massachusetts where he conducted research in crystal growth at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratories.
Jacques’ intellect and entrepreneurial spirit was matched only by his determination to live life to its fullest and to do so surrounded by family and friends. While having a strong work ethic, Jacques always found time for adventures, and particularly enjoyed travel, sailing, good food, wine and laughter.
Jacques first learned to sail on Boston’s Charles River, sparking a life-long passion for sailing and the sea. In 1974 he had the opportunity to move to Santa Barbara when offered a job with Santa Barbara Research Center. A fiercely independent self-made man, Jacques founded Chemtrol in 1976, based on his patented system for automated water treatment, which he grew successfully over the last four decades. As of today, Chemtrol has installed over 100,000 of its water-control
systems worldwide.
In 1979, Jacques met Nita Janco, his second wife and partner in adventure for the past four decades. Chemtrol?s success allowed them to spend much time with family, sailing in the Caribbean, travelling the world, and eventually living part-time between Casa Dorinda in Santa Barbara, Paris and Port Grimaud, France.
Jacques will be fondly remembered and acutely missed by his wife Nita, children Francine and Marc, sister Annie Nguyen, brother Claude, step-children Linda Vannier and Lisa Janco, and an extended blended family of grandsons, cousins, nieces and nephews and good friends in California, Canada and France.
