Milton Sniderman, a mechanical engineer who devoted his retirement years to care for the elderly, died Saturday at UPMC Presbyterian. The 80-year-old Squirrel Hill resident had a heart attack after battling cancer for many years.

Mr. Sniderman was an Army veteran of World War II who worked for 30 years for Westinghouse Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in West Mifflin. After retiring, he became a volunteer coordinator for Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The graduate of Peabody High School was a 17-year-old freshman at Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1943 when he enlisted in the Army. He was a member of the 66th Infantry Division and served as a scout during the Battle of the Bulge.

Mr. Sniderman finished his education at Carnegie Tech after the war, obtaining his engineering degree in 1948. He worked for the Westinghouse nuclear lab during the height of the Cold War.

Part of his work entailed developing safe refueling methods for the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarines. He would help oversee carefully orchestrated efforts, involving hundreds of individuals, to replace the radioactive material in the subs' reactors.

Though diagnosed with abdominal cancer in the early 1970s, he continued his engineering work until 1986. Some of Mr. Sniderman's volunteer work included chatting with other cancer patients about how he dealt with his own illness, hoping to inspire their own optimism for future health.

In the early 1990s, he and his wife, Bernice, became the Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers coordinators for their synagogue, Temple Sinai in Squirrel Hill. The caregivers group organizes people to help frail elderly persons remain at home by providing services such as doing household chores and accompanying them on shopping or medical trips.

His wife's brother, Harvey Nathanson of Squirrel Hill, said Mr. Sniderman had the perfect combination of compassion and can-do know-how to pull together dozens of other people for the charitable efforts.

"Milton, who had a heart bigger than gold and tremendous organizational skills, moved them as an army doing things through the synagogue for people who couldn't do for themselves," Mr. Nathanson said. "He was interested in three things: helping people, helping people and helping people."

The Snidermans' efforts were so successful that Temple Sinai created a service called Caring Connection for its congregants, providing them with even more help. Interfaith Volunteer Caregivers honored the couple as volunteers in 2004, and in special tribute to Mr. Sniderman said:

"Milt has been the best of supporters and mentors. His wisdom combined with experience has made him the first person we go to in many cases when we need guidance and an honest assessment of ideas we might be proposing."

In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Howard of Squirrel Hill and Ronald of Barrington, R.I.; three sisters, Helen Gisser and Irene Sniderman, both of Stanton Heights, and Ethel Cohen of Squirrel Hill; and four grandchildren.

Funeral services held yesterday were arranged by Ralph Schugar Chapel.