In Memoriam: Mimie Zlotnik

PITTSURGH, Pa. -  Marion “Mimie” Zlotnik, who in 1948 founded PestCo with husband Milton, passed away on July 19. She was 94.

In 1948, she and her late husband, Milton, began a local exterminating company in their home that was originally named Pittsburgh Exterminating Service and Termite Control. The name was later changed to Pestco, which eventually became Pestco Professional Services.

Deeply entrenched in the Pittsburgh landscape, this company continues to be family run and is a leading pest control and pest maintenance company throughout Western Pennsylvania.  

Her son, Arnold, had this to say about his mother:  “My mother wore the Pestco name like a badge of honor. She was proud of what my father, Milt, and she had accomplished together since 1948, and she treated each customer as she herself would have wanted to be treated. It warms my heart to think of how she made the progression from planning schedules with heaps of paper invoices on our dining room table, to becoming a successful business woman manager in her own right.

"My mother grew to be one of the most knowledgeable pest professionals of her time, and she was one of first women licensed for pest control in Pennsylvania in the early 1970s. I am so pleased that she lived long enough to witness the successful company that Pestco has become.”