T H E P I T T S B U R G H F O U N D AT I O N 2 0 F O R U M paintings damaged in a flood in Florence. He also helped the National Gallery detect fakes. In the 1970s, he expanded his focus to paper deterioration and the study of accelerated aging in artwork. In 2011, his work was recognized by the American Institute of Conservation with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Love and Legacy Beyond professional success, Feller’s career led to him meeting his wife, the highly accom- plished color scientist Ruth Johnston-Feller, then working at Pittsburgh Paints. Joining his lab on an advisory basis, her work on the standardization of colors complemented Feller’s professional strengths as perfectly as her personality overlaid his. The result was a decades-long marriage. In 1988, the pair retired from their respective jobs and built a house in Deep Creek, Md. Ruth’s deteriorating health forced them to return to Pittsburgh in the late 1990s and she died in 2000. It was during this time that Feller became active in his personal philanthropy. He estab- lished several charitable remainder unit trusts (CRUTs), naming individuals to receive annual distributions through their lifetimes, and then the balances are contributed to funds supporting Feller’s designated areas of interest. In addition, he named the Foundation as the largest beneficiary of his estate. In all, approximately $12 million will go to the funds he established. The CRUTs honor important people in his life — from fellow art conservators to family members. The Maura Cornman Fund, for exam- ple, is named for a colleague at the University of Missouri and will be used to conserve objects in the Museum of Art and Archaeology’s collections. The Luetta Johnston Scholarship Fund, named for Ruth’s mother, supports students at a high school in Polo, Ind., where she lived and taught. Two other scholarships benefiting graduating seniors at his New Jersey high school were created to honor his parents, an uncle and an aunt. “He was an extraordinarily intelligent, attentive scientist, still publishing into his 80s,” remembered Paschall. “But at the same time, he was one of the most unassuming people you could run into.” Foundation Director of Donor Services, Lindsay Aroesty, who met Feller when she joined the Foundation in 2010, recalled him similarly. “His legacy was important to him. He was proud of himself and could talk for hours, but not in an arrogant way. It was all about his amazing career.” by Ben Wecht | freelance writer Top right, a site about 15 minutes south of Pittsburgh, painted by Feller while on a picnic with his wife in 1964. Bottom left, a painting of the view along Second Avenue in 1999. Feller said of this and other works, “Bridges are always so photogenic!”