Robert Neal Brand
BRAND: Robert Neal Brand, 88, passed away peacefully on Jan. 5, 2025, at his home in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania. Mr. Brand was a graduate of Saint Louis Country Day School (1954), Harvard College (1958) and Harvard Business School (1960), and was a co-owner and executive at Enamel Products and Plating Company in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a steel and aluminum processing company, which also owned The Solar Group — a hardware manufacturer and was the largest producer of mailboxes in the U.S. Mr. Brand and his wife Carol Ann were married and moved to Pittsburgh in 1964 from St. Louis, Missouri, and were active members of Rodef Shalom Congregation, Pittsburgh Opera and Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. He served as a board member in each of these organizations and was the president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Technion Institute. Mr. Brand and his wife established a scholarship at Technion for Russian Jews who fled their country. Mr. Brand loved to travel and went to Africa and the Galapagos Islands, among others, in the 1970s before most Americans would venture to these places. In all, he visited more than 100 countries in his lifetime. He was an avid skier, golfer, hiker and runner. Mr. Brand traveled by train from St. Louis to Sun Valley, Idaho, in college in the 1950s and returned with his wife Carol in the 1970s. He eventually built a house in Sun Valley in the late 1980s and was passionate about spending time in the Wood River Valley. He is survived by his son, Leigh Andrew Brand and wife Elizabeth from New York, his daughter Laura Ann Brand and husband Adam Weene from Los Angeles, and his son David Owen Brand and wife Kathleen from Pittsburgh. Mr. Brand also had nine grandchildren, including Gus Lehmuller, Lily Lehmuller, George Brand, Caroline Brand, Max Weene, Zoe Weene, Eli Weene, Claire Brand and Henry Brand. His wife Carol Ann Brand died in 2006, and his second wife, Sandra Brand, died in 2023. Services at Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA on Thursday, Jan. 9 at 10 a.m. Visitation at temple, one hour prior to service (9-10 a.m.). Private burial to follow. Arrangements entrusted to Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., family owned and operated. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Pittsburgh Opera (pittsburghopera.org/support/ways-to-give) or Technion Institute of Technology (technion.ac.il/en/giving-to-technion) in Robert’s name. schugar.com PJC
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