Courtlandt Sherrington "Cort" Gross (21 November 1904 – 15 July 1982) was an American

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

pioneer and executive who served as a leading officer of

Lockheed Corporation The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but ot ...

for 35 years. He retired as chairman in 1967.

Life and career

Gross was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. He and his brother Robert E. Gross purchased the company Lockheed Corporation in 1932 and built it into an

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

conglomerate. Gross, his wife Alexandra Van Rensselaer Devereux Gross, and their housekeeper Catherine O'Hara VanderVeur were murdered in their home in

Villanova, Pennsylvania Villanova is a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It straddles Lower Merion Township in Montgomery County and Radnor Township in Delaware County. It is located at the center of the Philadelphia Main Line, a series of Philadelphia suburbs lo ...

.Robbins, William (July 17, 1982). "3 Killed in Mansion on Philadelphia's Main Line". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.Flint, Peter B. (July 17, 1982). "Courtlandt S. Gross and His Wife Dominant in Main Line's Society". ''The New York Times''.United Press international (September 19, 1982). "Trial Ordered in Gross Case". ''The New York Times''. Drifter Roger P. Buehl was convicted of the murders.Robbins, William (January 19, 1983)
"Jury returns guilty verdict in Main Line triple murder"
''The New York Times''. Courtlandt and Alexandra Gross were interred at St. Thomas' Church Cemetery in

Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania Whitemarsh Township is a Home rule municipality in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It retains its former classification of "Township" in its official name despite being a home rule municipality. The population was 17,349 at the 20 ...

References

External links

''Time'' magazine cover illustration of Gross
February 11, 1966. 1904 births 1982 deaths Burials in Pennsylvania Businesspeople in aviation Businesspeople from Boston Harvard University alumni People murdered in Pennsylvania 20th-century American businesspeople {{Aviation-bio-stub