John Connelly, Former Executive At Boeing; Linked To Success Of 707

A memorial service for John Bruce Connelly, a former Boeing vice-president and assistant general manager closely tied to the success of the 707, will be held at 4 p.m. today.

Connelly, 83, died Monday after a long illness.

He was born Feb. 26, 1907, in Sacramento and graduated from the University of Nevada-Reno.

He moved to Seattle in the early 1940s to work for Todd Shipyards. In 1948 he went to The Boeing Co., where he initially worked as an assistant to the Boeing corporate controller, as assistant secretary-treasurer and director of contract administration.

He made his mark in the what now is the company's Commercial Airplane Group and as assistant general manager. From January 1956 to January 1960 he was vice president-general manager of the former Transport Division.

Tapped as ``Boeing's top salesman,'' he traveled the world pushing the successful 707 program before the heads of major airlines.

Tex Boullioun, Connelly's boss from 1965 to retirement, said Connelly built up the Boeing sales force that continues today and also began a still-standing commitment to airlines that they would get spare parts within 24 hours so they could keep their planes flying.

``He was a peaceful man who kept his crews in line, and he knew everybody from the customer to the staff,'' Boullioun recalled, ``and he was proud of that plane.''

Dean Thornton, today's president of the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, described Connelly as good looking and ``a good dresser who always looked like he pressed his suit twice during the day.'' He said Connelly, who was of Irish origin, always wore a gold four-leaf clover tie clasp.

``He was smart and straight as a string and communicated in the early days, like (William) Allen, (former chairman) - by handshake,'' Thornton said.

Connelly played a key role in 1956 in helping persuade German Lufthansa Airlines to purchase an order of 707s. Lufthansa soon became one of Boeing's largest overseas customers in the '60s.

At Connelly's retirement party after 24 years with the company in 1972, Reinhard Abraham, the chief technical executive of Lufthansa, said Connelly ``knows the Europeans'' and was a man who ``when he says something it stands.''

George Nible, retired Boeing vice president of customer service, recalled Connelly as being ``super with people. He always understood how they make The Boeing Co. work.''

In retirement he enjoyed fishing, golf and taking long walks. He was a member of the Seattle Golf Club, the Seattle Tennis Club and the Mens' University Club.

He is survived by his wife, Catherine of Seattle; a sister, Marie Post of Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.; two daughters, Susan Van Ness and Sharon Sheppard, both of Seattle; four grandchildren; and one grandchild.

Remembrances may be made to Children's Hospital and Medical Center, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association or the Museum of Flight, to which he was a contributor.