Donald Procknow, 93, former Western Electric president
Donald E. Procknow, 93, of Doylestown, former vice chairman of AT&T Technologies, died Friday, July 1, of respiratory failure at his home in Doylestown.
Donald E. Procknow, 93, of Doylestown, former vice chairman of AT&T Technologies, died Friday, July 1, of respiratory failure at his home in Doylestown.
Born and raised in Madison, S.D., Mr. Procknow briefly attended the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology before enlisting in the Navy in 1943. He served as an engineering officer aboard a warship in the Pacific Theater until the end of World War II.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1947, Mr. Procknow joined the Western Electric Co., where he met his wife, Esther. He served as president of the company from 1971 to 1983, and when Western Electric later became AT&T Technologies, he was named vice chairman.
Thomas Thompson, a friend and former coworker of Mr. Procknow at Western Electric, said that employees often gave him the tough jobs. If a board CEO needed to be replaced, people knew they could rely on Mr. Procknow's leadership skills to handle the situation.
Mr. Procknow was elected to nine boards of directors over a 26-year period, including J.P. Morgan, Ingersoll-Rand, Prudential Insurance Co., NCR, and Western Electric.
Family and friends said, however, his biggest legacy was not being elected to boards of Fortune 500 companies but rather his civic engagement.
"He rose extremely high in the world of business, but in contrast to some CEOs today, where it's all about themselves, for my dad, it was all about other people," said his son Eugene.
Mr. Procknow was a life trustee of the Greater New York Council of Boy Scouts of America, where he served as president from 1975 to 1976 and as chairman the next year. He was also active in the Doylestown Presbyterian Church and regularly met with Philadelphia prisoners to give them religious information and counseling.
Despite Mr. Procknow's busy career, his sons said that he "always made it home for dinner." Eugene Procknow said that his father's humility in the face of all his achievements defined his character.
"He had a nice house, but he did all his yardwork himself," said his son. "We used to laugh that he was probably the only one on the block that didn't hire someone for it."
Mr. Procknow also had a great passion for the outdoors and spent much time at his mountain home in Vermont. With his two sons, he climbed Mount Whitney in California, the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States.
In addition to his son and his wife, he is also survived by a son, Charles, five grandchildren, and two sisters.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, July 9, at Doylestown Presbyterian Church, 127 East Court St., Doylestown.
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