Nov. 18, 1931 - Oct. 1, 2012

For someone who worked for most of his life as an accountant, Carl Citron had an unstereotypically interesting life.

With his wife, Jane, he traveled the world -- Morocco, Greece, India, Thailand, Vietnam. Later, the couple rented apartments for monthlong stints in the south of France and in California's Napa Valley.

Much of this globe-trotting was driven by the fact that Jane Citron was a cooking teacher and food writer for The Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Magazine.

But Mr. Citron was a happy companion in all of it.

"I don't think anyone's ever eaten better," said one of his three sons, Alan, of Fox Chapel.

Mr. Citron died Monday of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 80.

One of five children, Mr. Citron grew up in Beechview and then Squirrel Hill, where he was valedictorian -- at age 16 -- at Taylor Allderdice High School, now Pittsburgh Allderdice. At the University of Pittsburgh, he earned a bachelor's in business administration in 1951 and the next year a master's in accounting, which he loved.

His son Rodger of New York City said that watching him in his home office working the calculator keys "was like watching a concert pianist."

Mr. Citron married Jane Pachtman, whom he'd begun dating at Pitt, in February 1955, while he was on leave from the Army, which had drafted him near the end of the Korean War. The newlyweds moved to San Francisco for the rest of his Army stint, and it was the time of their lives, living -- and eating -- in an exotic city.

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Obituary: Carl D. Citron / Accountant enjoyed travels, taste of success