H. Hayes Aikens | Company founder, 94

H. Hayes Aikens, 94, formerly of Radnor, founder of an innovative office partitions company, died Friday at Dunwoody Village, a retirement community in Newtown Square.

Mr. Aikens started Transwall Co. in Malvern in 1963. The company, which produced partitions for office cubicles, eventually provided complete office systems with movable walls, shelves, file cabinets and telecommunications wiring. By the 1990s Transwall employed 75 people in a plant in West Chester. Clients included AT&T and Exxon. Mr. Aikens was board chairman and his son Jay was president when they sold the company in 1998 to Kimball International.

Mr. Aikens grew up in Llanerch and graduated from Episcopal Academy. He earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Haverford College.

During World War II he served in the Navy aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp in the Atlantic. While on leave, he met his future wife, Carolyn Lord, at the Merion Cricket Club. She was also a Navy officer.

After his discharge, he was an engineer for General Electric in Philadelphia before establishing Transwall.

Mr. Aikens was past president of Goodwill Industries of Philadelphia and served on the board of Associated Services for the Blind. He served on the board, was vice president, and headed the indoor tennis courts construction committee at the Merion Cricket Club.

In the 1960s and 1970s he was a developer of the Malvern Industrial Park, and after he retired he was general contractor for a commercial building on property he owned in Malvern. In his 90s, his son said, he was still splitting wood on the property and delivering it to friends and family.

He enjoyed travel, tennis, squash, swimming, cycling, and home-improvement projects.

Mr. Aikens' wife of 56 years died in 2000. In addition to his son, he is survived by daughters Constance Owen and Deborah Laverell; a son, Peter; seven grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. tomorrow at St. David's Episcopal Church, 763 S. Valley Rd., Wayne.