Saul Steven Kushner, a retired Westinghouse Electric Corp. acoustics expert and longtime Severn resident, died of heart failure Sunday at North Arundel Hospital. He was 79.

Born and raised in Utica, N.Y., Mr. Kushner served as an electronics technician in the Navy aboard the USS Yokes, a destroyer escort, in the Pacific during World War II.

After being injured in a shipboard accident, he was discharged from the Navy and enrolled at the University of Michigan, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry. He then earned a master's degree in physics from the university and taught at its Institute of Science and Technology.

In 1963, Mr. Kushner moved to Baltimore and went to work for Westinghouse, where he took part in numerous research and development projects. He retired in 1985.

He was a Meals on Wheels volunteer.

He was an active communicant of Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church in Glen Burnie, where a Mass of Christian burial was offered yesterday.

Mr. Kushner is survived by his wife of 53 years, the former Alice Lauxtermann; two sons, Jeffrey Kushner of Severna Park and Larry Kushner of Bel Air; three daughters, Janice Kushner of Severn, Monica Keen of Crownsville and Harriet Jill Gallagher of Finksburg; a brother, Harry Kushner of Cleveland; and 11 grandchildren.