Albert "Goldie" Glenn

Albert “Goldie” Glenn, aviation innovator and leader for more than 70 years, died peacefully at home in Bluffton SC on June 25, 2016. He was 93. Because of Glenn’s leadership, Gulfstream Aerospace became one of the world’s premier aerospace companies and has contributed immeasurably to Georgia’s economy. During a career that spanned more than 70 years in aviation, Glenn introduced many new safety and maintenance concepts which are accepted today as standard operating procedures. In recognition of his distinguished contributions to the field of aviation, Goldie Glenn was enshrined into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame on April 9, 2011. Goldie’s interests in aviation was aroused as a young boy witnessing Charles Lindbergh’s historic 1927 solo flight departing from Long Island, NY to Paris, France. This historic event inspired him to study at the Roosevelt Aviation School in 1938-39 before joining Grumman Aircraft in 1940. Assigned to flight operations, he was involved with the introduction of hydraulics into Grumman’s military aircraft. Glenn joined the Navy in 1943 and was assigned to an Aircraft Engineering Service Unit. He traveled to Navy and Marine squadrons helping them transition to new Grumman aircraft being introduced into the fleet. He also developed training programs integrating all aircraft components into a single, comprehensive manual…something that had never been done before. Glenn returned to Grumman after WWII and established a repair center to service aircraft. In so doing, Grumman became the first company to directly support the aircraft they had produced. Glenn also rectified an industry-wide deficiency by writing consolidated training and operating manuals for all Grumman commercial aircraft. In 1946, Glenn was the first Grumman technical representative assigned to the U.S. Navy’s newly formed demonstration team – The Blue Angels. He attended the company’s first schools on jet engines and pressurized aircraft, and helped develop Grumman’s first jet plane, the F9F Panther. In charge of Technical Operations, Glenn helped develop the G-I in 1957 and G-II in 1965. He also created a service center specifically for the G-I and G-II. Glenn led the team that ultimately chose Savannah, Georgia as the new location for Gulfstream. For two years he over saw the transition of every facet of Grumman’s Gulfstream operation from Bethpage, LI to Savannah. This included the formation of the first “one stop shop” in the aviation industry; where engineering, manufacturing, interior design, sales,service,flight testing and flight safety simulators were combined into a single location. In 1973 Gulfstream separated from Grumman and became an independent company. Over the years, it has changed ownership several times, with Glenn serving at times as President and Chief Operations Office. He retired in 1993 as Vice Chairman. Education has always been important to Goldie. He created the “Goldie Glenn Scholarship” for children of Gulfstream employees. To date there have been over 200 scholarship recipients. Albert “Goldie” Glenn is survived by Helen Glenn, his loving wife of 74 years, four daughters: Barbara Scheriff of Lexington SC, Carolyn Sielski and her husband Joseph of Allendale NJ, Dale DeAtley and her husband John Diehl of Costa Mesa CA, and Donna Williams of Rohnert Park, CA. He is also survived by eight grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 6, 2016 at the First Presbyterian Church of Hilton Head Island. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to Habitat for Humanity in Goldie’s memory.