Frank Shrontz, 92, Dies; Led Boeing in the Last of Its Golden Years

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Frank Shrontz, a widely admired executive who led Boeing in the 1980s and ’90s, a decade of spectacular growth in both its bottom line and its prestige as one of the world’s premier aerospace companies — a period very different from its current crisis of public confidence — died on May 3 at an assisted living home in Seattle. He was 92. His son Craig confirmed the death. Although he spent the bulk of his career at Boeing, Mr. Shrontz, who had a law degree and an M.B.A., was an unlikely choice to lead a company that prided itself on letting engineers and not businessmen set the pace. Yet during his time at the helm — he became president in 1985, chief executive in 1986 and chairman of the board in 1988 — he led Boeing through a growth market, a recession and a thorough restructuring that produced one of the most successful commercial aircraft ever put into service, the 777.