Frank Shrontz, former CEO and chairman of Boeing, dies at 92

By Daniel Beekman / The Seattle Times

Frank Anderson Shrontz, the CEO of Boeing from 1986 to 1996 and a member of the ownership group that took over the Seattle Mariners in 1992, has died at age 92, the Mariners said Saturday.

Shrontz, who also served as chairman of Boeing’s board from 1988 to 1997, died Friday surrounded by his family, a statement from the Mariners said.

“He was widely admired and respected in Seattle for both his community work and his leadership of the Boeing company,” Mariners Chairman John Stanton said in the statement.

Later Saturday, Boeing also released a statement.

“We are deeply grateful to Frank Shrontz for his leadership and many years of service to the United States, the Puget Sound community and Boeing,” the company said. “Our thoughts are with his family.”

Portrait of Frank Shrontz, 1975 (Photo provided by United States Department of the Air Force)

Born and raised in Boise, Idaho, Shrontz graduated from the University of Idaho and Harvard Business School. He joined Boeing in 1958, then served in the Department of Defense in the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Shrontz rejoined Boeing in 1977 as vice president of contract planning and administration. In the midst of an energy crisis, he backed Boeing’s 737 airplane over more fuel-efficient models.

“The move was either lucky or prescient,” Fortune magazine later wrote, as the 737 became one of the company’s biggest sellers.

As Boeing CEO, Shrontz grew the company’s defense and commercial businesses. In 1996, he was succeeded by Phil Condit. Boeing endowed Seattle University’s Chair in Professional Ethics in Shrontz’s name in 1997.

Shrontz was “a key member” of the Mariners ownership group that came together three decades ago “to save Major League Baseball in Seattle,” Stanton said.

“His national and international reputation helped legitimize the new group” in the eyes of the league, Stanton added.

Shrontz was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Harriett. They were supporters of community organizations, including the Seattle Art Museum and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Mariners statement said.