Dates

• Existence: 1879 December 30 - 1956 March 15
• Usage: 1879 - 1956

Biographical Note

George Conrad Westervelt (1879 – 1956) was a U.S. Navy engineer. He and William E. Boeing founded Pacific Aero Products Co. in 1916.

George Conrad Westervelt was born on December 30, 1879 in Corpus Christi, Texas. He attended elementary school there and then the Texas Military Institute in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1901 and then the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1908 with a degree in naval architecture and marine engineering. Serving with the U.S. Navy, he was stationed on the west coast of the United States until 1916 and then was transferred back east where he headed the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1921-1927. While stationed on the west coast, Westervelt became friends with William E. Boeing. Together they co-designed the Boeing Model 1 and founded Pacific Aero Products Company, which later became the Boeing Company. Westervelt left the company after a year when his obligations with the U.S. Navy took him to the east coast. As part of his work for the Navy he worked with the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. After his retirement from the Navy, he became vice-president of Curtiss-Wright. In the early 1930s he was based in China working with China National Aviation Corporation. Westervelt was called back to active military duty in 1942 when he managed aircraft production for Brewster Aeronautical Corporation.

Westervelt married Rieta Brabham Langhorne of Lynchburg, Virginia, on December 20, 1927. Together they had two daughters. Westervelt died in Florida on March 15, 1956 and is buried at Arlington National Ceremony.

Citation:

Places

• Corpus Christi (Tex.) (Place of Birth)
• Texas (Place of Birth)
• San Antonio (Tex.) (Residence)
• Washington (State) (Residence)
• China (Residence)
• Pennsylvania (Residence)
• Florida (Place of Death)

Found in 3 Collections and/or Records: