Theodore Arthur Wells ’29

TED DIED Sept. 25, 1991. He prepared for college at Lawrenceville. At Princeton he was in Triangle Club (property manager), and he was a member of Elm Club. His roommates were Wait Wilder and C. K. Ogle.

Ted's later distinction as an aeronautical engineer was apparent even as an undergraduate when he bought a Jenny and gave rides and lessons. His first job was with Travel Air, which was soon after acquired by CurtissWright. Ted and a fellow Curtiss engineer' Walter Beech, left to found the Beech Aircraft Corp., for which Ted designed most of their famous planes. He was V.P. and chief engineer at Beech, but in 1953 he left for his own consulting work and it was an open secret to have more time for his hobby of Snipe Class sailing. Ted was three times national Snipe Class champion and twice world champion. He became vicechairman of the State Bank in Wichita and a director of Great Plains Industry. He was Commodore of the Wichita Sailing Club and served as a councilman of Eastborough, Kans. His publications included MANUAL OF AIRCRAFT MATERIALS AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES and SCIENTIFIC SAILBOAT RACING.

In 1930 Ted married Margery Adair, and she survives. The Class extends deep sympathy to Marge.

The Class of 1929