Philip L. Koltun, age 61 years, of Crystal Lake passed away Friday, October 26, 2012, at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago from acute myeloid leukemia.
He was born May 6, 1951, the second son of Abraham and Rhoda (Rosenzweig) Koltun. An excellent student, Phil graduated from high school at age 16 and began his undergraduate studies in computer science at the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana. He went on to obtain a Master’s degree in computer science from Carnegie-Melon University in Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. His academic career included teaching computer science at North Carolina State University and Sangamon State (now UI-Springfield). Phil left academia for industry in 1983 and worked for Harris Corporation in their software operations division and eventually in engineering productivity at the corporate headquarters. He later held other software engineering positions at Motorola, Navteq, and at the Linux Foundation. Most recently, he joined Pearson Corporation.
Phil met his future spouse, Patricia Melcher, while working at Harris. They married on November 4, 1989 in Indiatlantic, FL. They had two sons, Alex and Andrew. Phil was first and foremost a very loving and giving family man dedicated to his sons and wife. He took great joy in nurturing and encouraging their passions, academic, and occupational interests. Phil was also a tremendous fan of college sports. The UNC Tar Heels and Fighting Illini teams always held a special place in his heart.
Survived by his wife, Pat, and sons, Alex and Andrew, all of Crystal Lake, his mother Rhoda Koltun in Mid-Manhattan, New York, his brother and sister-in-law’s, Jan Koltun of Springfield, IL, George (Kathy) Melcher of Genoa City, WI, Greg (Ceci) Melcher of Grafton, WI, Nancy Melcher of Brookfield, WI, Gary (Mina) Melcher of Gaithersburg, Maryland, Annette Melcher of Milwaukee, Claire (Donald) Mueller of Belleville, IL & Debbie Melcher of Franklin, WI, also many nieces and nephews.
Phil was preceded in death by his father, brother Dave, brother-in-law, Bob Melcher, as well as his mother and father-in-law, Leona and Walter Melcher.
Per Phil’s request a memorial will be held in early May 2013 (around his birthday) to celebrate his life at the DeFiore-Jorgensen Funeral & Cremation Service in Huntley.
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I will always remember Phillip as the kind and devoted father to two of the best students I have ever had the privilege to teach. My prayers are with the Koltun family.
To Pat Koltun and family, I read of Phils passing in the newspaper and was so sorry to see this. My thoughts are with you and your family. Marilyn Dyre, PhD, LCSW
Andy and Alex, What a wonderful man and role model your father was. My heart breaks for you at your loss. You are in my thoughts and prayers.