Sanford Noyes “Sandy” McDonnell died peacefully at home on Monday March 19, 2012, surrounded by his loving family.
He was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Oc. 12, 1922, and is the nephew of McDonnell Aircraft founder James S. McDonnell.
He earned bachelor’s degrees in economics from Princeton University in 1945 and mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1948, and a master’s degree in applied mechanics in 1954 from in St. Louis. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II, spending two years on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico.
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He married his wife Priscilla Robb McDonnell in 1946 and they had a daughter Robbin in 1948 and son Randy in 1951. In 1948, he joined McDonnell Aircraft Company (later to become McDonnell Douglas) in St. Louis, Mo.
He was CEO and Chairman of McDonnell Douglas from 1972 to 1988.
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For a complete obituary, click here.
He is survived by his loving wife Priscilla Robb McDonnell, son William Randall (Randy) McDonnell (wife-Veronica McDonnell), daughter Robbin McDonnell MacVittie (husband-Paul MacVittie), sister Cherry McDonnell Lawrence, and grandson U.S. Air Force Captain William Sanford MacVittie.
A memorial service will be held at at 4 p.m. Wednesday, March 28.
The services are being handled by .
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