Irving Katz, Much Quoted Stock Analyst, Dies at 64

Irving Katz, a San Diego securities analyst and a contributor to the Los Angeles Times, died of cancer at his home Thursday. He was 64.

Until his illness was diagnosed in April, Katz contributed to a weekly Times column analyzing the performance of locally based stocks. An acerbic and incisive observer of the local business scene, Katz was widely quoted in San Diego newspapers.

Katz, trained as a pharmacist, turned his lifelong interest in the stock market into a full-time job in 1982 when he became director of research at San Diego Securities.

A New York City native, Katz stayed with the firm when, in 1987, it merged with Los Angeles-based Thomas Green and was renamed Thomas Green/San Diego Securities. Katz helped engineer the sale of the San Diego office to Mason, Hunt & Co. of Phoenix earlier this year.

Katz was active in local chapters of Stock & Bond Club and the Financial Analysts Society. He was a member of Beth Israel Temple.

Katz was educated at St. John’s University and Columbia University, where he received a master’s degree in pharmaceutical chemistry. He attended medical school briefly in Lausanne, Switzerland before moving to San Diego with his first wife Rosalie, now deceased, in 1964.

Before becoming a full-time securities analyst, Katz practiced pharmacy at Mercy Hospital, Kaiser Permanente and the Naval Hospital in Balboa Park.

Katz is survived by his wife Sharon; his children Brian, Joseph, Clarke, Brandy, Benjamin and Hannah; and one grandchild, Diana.

A graveside memorial service will be held today at 11 a.m. at El Camino Memorial Park on Carroll Canyon Road. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions may be made to San Diego Hospice.