Military Wiki
George Conrad Westervelt
Co-Founder of Boeing Company
Personal details
Born (1879-12-30)December 30, 1879
Corpus Christi, Texas
Died March 15, 1956(1956-03-15) (aged 76)
Florida
Nationality American
Occupation naval engineering, aircraft executive, corporate troubleshooter
Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology
United States Naval Academy
George Conrad Westervelt
Born (1879-12-30)30 December 1879
Died 15 March 1956(1956-03-15) (aged 76)
Place of birth Corpus Christi, Texas
Place of death Florida
Buried at Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance United States United States of America
Service/branch United States Navy Seal United States Navy
Years of service 1903-1927
Rank US Navy O6 insignia Captain
Commands held Naval Aircraft Factory

George Conrad Westervelt (December 30, 1879 - March 15, 1956) was an U.S. Navy engineer who created the company "Pacific Aero Products Co." together with William Boeing.[1] Westervelt[when?] left the company in 1916 and Boeing changed the name of the company to the Boeing Airplane Company the following year. George Conrad Westervelt was born in Corpus Christi, Texas to GW Westervelt and Ida Florence DeRyee (DuRy) Westervelt. He attended Corpus Christi Grammar School and Texas Military Institute, San Antonio, Texas.[2]

Naval career[]

Westervelt was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in naval engineering.[3] Until 1916 Westervelt was stationed on the west coast of the United States. In 1916 he was transferred to the east coast and headed the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia from 1921 to 1927.[4] Westervelt retired from the USN with the rank of Captain.

Aviation career[]

During his naval career Westervelt was also involved in naval aviation. Westervelt became friends with Boeing and worked with him on seaplanes and help co-found what would become the Boeing Corporation. He left Pacific Aero Products after 1916 after being transferred to the east coast by the USN. Following his retirement from the USN Westervelt joined Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company to work on the Curtiss NC float plane[4] and later became vice-president with Curtiss-Wright.[5] From 1930 to 1931 Westervelt went to China to help out with the China National Aviation Corporation.

Personal[]

Westervelt was married to Rieta Brabham Langhorne of Lynchburg, Virginia on December 20, 1927, and had two daughters, Sally Cary and Effie Eda.[6] He retired from Curtiss-Wright and died in Florida 1956.[3]

Westervelt is buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, DC.[7]

See also[]

  • William Boeing
  • Boeing Model 1 - first seaplane worked on by B&W and designed by Westervelt and Boeing

References[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at George Conrad Westervelt and the edit history here.