Camden People - Oliver C. "Ollie" Boileau

OLIVER C. "OLLIE" BOILEAU Jr. was born in Camden around 1927 to Oliver C. Boileau and his wife, the former Florence Smith, and was raised in nearby Pennsauken, at 1947 Tinsman Avenue. His grandfather, J. Marshall. Boileau, worked in a real estate office, first as a clerk and later as a manager. His father, also named Oliver C. Boileau, was born in 1902. The family was living at 509 Trenton Avenue when the 1906 City Directory was compiled, and by the end of 1919 had moved to 218 South 5th Street, the present day site of Cooper Hospital, which in those days was a pretty fashionable block. When his parents wed, the went to live with his mother's family in Pennsauken, and they remained there through at least the mid-1950s. Oliver Sr. worked at the RCA-Victor factory in Camden in the ate 1920s and early 1930s.

Oliver Jr. served in the Navy during World War II. Upon his return he attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a degree in electrical engineering in 1951. He then went to work for RCA-Victor. A year later he went to Seattle to work for the Boeing Corporation. Oliver Boileau Jr. received a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1953. He was a Sloan Fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned his master's degree in Industrial Management in 1964.

His industrial career began in 1951 with the Radio Corporation of America, working on aircraft electronics. Boileau joined the Boeing Company in 1953 as a Research Engineer and subsequently progressed through technical and management positions. He was named a Vice President of Boeing in 1968 and in 1973 was appointed President of Boeing Aerospace Company, which in the 1980s was the military and space arm of Boeing. During his years at Boeing he directed work on projects including the lunar rover and the Minuteman missile program.

In 1980, he joined General Dynamics as President and member of the Board of Directors. In January 1988, he was promoted to Vice Chairman. He retired from General Dynamics in 1988. Boileau joined Northrop in December 1989 as President and General Manager of the B-2 Division with overall responsibility for the entire USA/Northrop B-2 Advanced Technology Bomber Program. He then led the Grumman Corporation operations acquired by Northrop in 1994. At Grumman he served as President and Chief Operating Officer, later becoming the Corporate Vice President and member of the Board of Northrop Grumman. He retired from Northrop Grumman in 1995.

In 1979 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in recognition of his contributions to the technical and cost management of major aerospace programs and to national defense.

In the late 1990s Oliver Boileau contributed $100, 000 to create a computer laboratory in the Melvin Levine and Claire Levine Hall for Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1997 he became affiliated with the University of Wyoming.

Oliver Boileau was the first recipient of the Harold O. Kester Distinguished Service Award from the University of Wyoming, where he served on the Board of Directors of that school's College of Engineering National Advisory Board. In 2003 Oliver Boileau and his wife, the former Nan Eleze Lee, set up an endowment at the University of Wyoming which supports the Boileau Computer Laboratory at the schools College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Other honors and activities include Oliver Boileau's being a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautical and Astronautics, a past Trustee and member of the Association of the U.S. Army, member of the Air Force Association, American Defense Preparedness Association, National Academy of Engineering, National Aeronautics Association, New York Academy of Sciences and Navy League of the United States. He was past Chairman and is now a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Library Advisory Board and served on the Board of Trustees of St. Louis University. He has served on visiting boards for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania and Southern Methodist University, and was a member of the Corporation of Lawrence Institute of Technology. He was affiliated with Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi honorary societies, and Theta Xi social fraternity.

Oliver C. Boileau passed away in St. Louis, Missouri on July 27, 2007. He was survived by his wife, four children, and two grandchildren.

Camden Courier-Post * July 29, 2007

Retired aerospace executive born in Camden dies

ST. LOUIS -- Funeral services will be held Tuesday for Oliver "Ollie" Boileau, a retired aerospace executive who worked on projects from the lunar rover to the B2 stealth bomber.

The St. Louis man, 80, died Friday from surgery complications.

He held leadership positions at the Boeing Co., General Dynamics and Northrup Grumman Corp. He was born in Camden and served in the Navy in World War II.

Boileau began his career in national defense at RCA in Camden in 1951.

A year later, he joined the Boeing Co. in Seattle, where he directed work on projects including the lunar rover and the Minuteman missile program. He later was promoted to lead the Boeing Aerospace Co., which in the 1980s was the military and space arm of Boeing.

Boileau left Boeing in 1980 to be president and vice chairman of General Dynamics in St. Louis. He kept the post for nine years. After a brief retirement, Northrop Co. in southern California lured him back to lead the B2 stealth bomber program. He retired in 1995 as president of Northrop Grumman.

His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Michael-St. George Episcopal Church in Clayton. Entombment will follow at Forever Bellerive Cemetery in Creve Coeur.

Among the survivors are his wife, Nan Eleze (Lee) Boileau; two daughters, two sons, and two grandchildren.