Former colleagues of Ralph Burt Jr., who died Saturday, described him as a kind and professional man who surrounded himself with people with similar qualities, which led to their success.

He was a co-founder of the Burt Hill Architecture Engineering and Design firm based in Butler.

"He surrounded himself with competent men," said longtime partner Alva Hill, who is now retired.

"First-class people surround themselves with first-class people," said Jean Purvis, who was public relations director for the firm for 13 years until her retirement in 1989.

"He was sincerely eager to attract bright talent," she said.

"When it came to the profession, he was very committed and passionate," chairman emeritus John Kosar said. "And as an individual he was very kind, very considerate and a real people person."

Kosar is also chairman of the international division.

Burt and Hill met in an architecture class at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University. They had both been pilots in the Army Air Force in World War II.

"It was the first evening of night school in architecture in the fall of 1947," Hill said. "I walked into the drafting room and there was this guy with an A-2 leather flight jacket. … And immediately I asked, 'Where have I seen you before.' "

They had both last been stationed at Williams Air Base near Phoenix, Ariz.

"From that moment on we were in a sense partners," Hill said.

During the summer before their senior year, Burt and Hill worked on a project designing and building a house in the North Hills, he said.

The project got publicity on television. The next school year, they met Whitney Murphy, who was a visiting professor.

Murphy was the first partner of Edwin Howard, who founded the architectural firm in Butler in 1936. It was first called Edwin Howard, and became Howard and Murphy in 1946.

After Burt and Hill graduated in 1952, Hill said he knew the school district in his hometown of Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, intended to build a junior high school.

They shared the information with Howard and Murphy.

"We got the job," he said.

That was the beginning of their business relationship with the firm.

Later, Burt learned his hometown of Washington, Pa., was going to build a high school.

"We pursued that," Hill said.

In 1958, Murphy left the firm, which then changed its name to Howard Burt and Hill, which remained until 1968.

Kosar said from 1968 through 1977, it was Burt Hill and Associates. In 1978, it became Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann.

Kosar joined the firm in 1969.

It was located at 610 Mellon Bank building, now the Lafayette Apartments on South Main Street.

The firm moved across Main Street in the 1970s, moving into the new Morgan Center.

Kosar said he met Burt in 1957 on an internship from the University of Cincinnati.

"Ralph really became a tremendous mentor," Kosar said. "I really enjoyed working with him for 35 years."

Burt retired in the early 1990s, Purvis said.

"Ralph was really an outstanding person," Hill said.

He said Burt was enthusiastic, innovative and compassionate.

"He was always very caring about the people who worked for the firm," Hill said. "There was no one more proud of the firm and its accomplishments than Ralph."

Burt Hill now has seven offices and 425 employees.

The offices are in Butler, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Boston, Cleveland, and its newest in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The office in Butler is the largest with 155 employees.

Kosar said some of the projects Burt was personally involved with in Butler included:

Butler High School and Intermediate High School

Butler YMCA

BC3

Irene Stacy

The former Friendship Federal Savings and Loan on Main Street.

In Pittsburgh, some of his major projects were:

Liberty Center

Comstock Building

Chatham Center

Kosar said Burt was also a "community person," serving on the boards of the Community Development Corporation of Butler County, Irene Stacy Community Mental Health Center, the YMCA, the former Human Relations Board, and in Pittsburgh, the Golden Triangle Association, and the Greater Pittsburgh Charitable Trust.

"He was an avid tennis player," Kosar said. Burt also was a member of the Butler Country Club.

"He loved the outdoors," Kosar said. "He just enjoyed life every single day."

"He was an outgoing, friendly and creative man," Purvis said. "He was very optimistic. He had a wonderful, positive attitude."

"He was an amazing person," Hill said.

Burt is survived by his wife, Jean, a daughter, Suanne Sardi; a sister, Elinor Kowell; a daughter-in-law, Patricia Burt; and several grandchildren, nieces and nephews.