Louis F. Cimino, 93, a creative computer expert

Louis F. Cimino, 93, of Roxborough, a creative computer expert, died of heart failure Thursday, March 17, at home.

Mr. Cimino joined General Electric's space division in Philadelphia in 1954. By the 1960s, he was in charge of the GE computer center in Valley Forge as director of information systems. Under his supervision, GE initiated a service establishing time-sharing access to what were then large mainframe computers.

He established time-sharing programs with companies at area high schools and several colleges, including Villanova, Lehigh, and Harvard Universities.

Mr. Cimino helped design an information system for hiring teachers and developed computer systems for a college-graduate placement service. He provided GE computer technology for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C.

In 1968, he left GE to be an executive with Scientific Resources Corp. in King of Prussia.

In the early 1970s, he became vice president of Union Fidelity Life Insurance Co., and was president of Neshaminy Valley Information Processing in Trevose. At NVIP, he developed a network of more than 600 terminals and remote entry systems to service the insurance industry.

After retiring in 1982, Mr. Cimino continued to do consulting. He was a former chairman of the board of Mauchly Associates, a management consulting firm established by John Mauchly, coinventor of Eniac, the first general-purpose computer.

Mr. Cimino graduated from Overbrook High School and attended business school. He then sold Cadillacs for a dealership in Upper Darby and for the rest of his life always drove a Cadillac or a Lincoln, said a son, Michael.

During World War II, Mr. Cimino served in the Army as a warrant officer and was stationed at the Pentagon. After his discharge, he was an efficiency expert for the Veterans Administration before joining GE.

True to his Italian heritage, he made his own sausage and wine, and grew tomatoes, peppers, and herbs in an extensive garden at his home in Villanova, said his daughter, Bernadette Marvel. He continued to grow vegetables in a smaller garden in Roxborough until five years ago, she said.

In addition to his son and daughter, Mr. Cimino is survived by his wife of 68 years, Rita Siravo Cimino; another son, John; eight grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

A Memorial Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Monday, April 4, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 819 E. Cathedral Rd., where friends may call after 9:30. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery, West Conshohocken.