Westinghouse international attorney enjoyed travel, foreign cultures

DAVID KREMEN Oct. 21, 1940 - June 30, 2015

David Kremen’s immersion in foreign lands and cultures began early in his career as an attorney for Westinghouse when he was transferred from New York to Pittsburgh and then to Brussels for four years.

Mr. Kremen loved the foreign posting and all the subsequent work-related overseas trips he took for Westinghouse as the company’s principal international attorney.

“He was very interested in foreign countries. He loved to travel, getting to meet people all over the world,” said his sister, Paula Smith of St. Louis. “I think he traveled everywhere except Antarctica.”

His favorite foreign locale was Venice, Italy, where he loved to stay at the Hotel Danieli, conversing with locals in Italian.

Mr. Kremen, 74, of Squirrel Hill died Tuesday after battling an autoimmune disease for a number of years.

Before and after Mr. Kremen’s retirement from Westinghouse in his late 60s, Mrs. Smith accompanied him on two trips to India and others to Croatia, Ireland and Vietnam.

Travel and foreign cultures were but two of Mr. Kremen’s many varied interests. He was “eccentric but in a good way,” his sister said with a laugh.

Mr. Kremen, a native of Baltimore, was a graduate of Brandeis University and earned his law degree at New York University.

Scholarly yet gregarious, he loved to discuss and debate. In addition to his native tongue, he spoke five languages — Hebrew, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. He loved music, art, theater, movies and opera. He attended performances and exhibits and donated money to the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Symphony, Pittsburgh Opera, PICT Classic Theatre, Kinetic Theatre and the Andy Warhol Museum, among others.

He was a volunteer and contributor for the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh and narrated one of its feature films titled, “Deadly Medicine.” Additionally, he served as president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Jewish Committee and his condominium council and he was a member of a number of international organizations.

“He was interested in everything,” his sister said. “We grew up in a cultured home. That was just a part of our life. That gave him the background.”

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Sunday at New Light Congregation, 1700 Beechwood Blvd., Squirrel Hill. Contributions may be made to Keren Ayelet Hahachar — The Gazelle Fund of the Pittsburgh Foundation, 5 PPG Place, No. 250, Pittsburgh 15222. Arrangements are by Ralph Schugar Chapel Inc., Shadyside.