Wilson Wilde, Former Chief Of Hartford Steam Boiler, Dies At 86

Dec. 02--Wilson Wilde, who led Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co. through decades of growth as its chief executive, has died at the age of 86.

A family obituary said he died Nov. 25 in East Boothbay, Maine.

Wilde attended the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor before going on to Williams College and Swathmore College. He entered the U.S. Navy Air Officer Candidate School after graduation, serving in World War II and the Korean War, the obituary said.

While leading the Hartford specialty insurance and engineering services firm from 1971 to 1994, Wilde saw a five-fold growth in assets and steep increases in revenue and stock returns. He started working in the company's insurance department in 1953, rising to the firm's chief executive office when he was 43.

Hartford Steam Boiler released a statement Monday afternoon that said Wilde's time as chief executive "strengthened its engineering and scientific resources to help prevent loss with practical solutions that would contribute to the safe, reliable and efficient use of equipment and technology in the best interests of society."

"He guided the company through tremendous growth and innovation during a period of rapid changes and challenges in the property-casualty insurance industry," the statement said.

After his retirement in 1994, Wilde he built two houses in East Boothbay, where his family vacationed when he was growing up, the obituary said. A year ago, he moved to East Boothbay with his wife, Joan, to live there full time.

Wilde served on boards at Loomis Chaffee, the Connecticut Historical Society, the Advisory Council of the Florence Griswold Museum, the Greater Hartford United Way, The Connecticut Governor's Residence Conservancy, and the Old State House Association. He also served on the boards of Shawmut National Corp., Hartford National, Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Co., General Re, GenRad Inc., and Emhart Corp.

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