Longtime BCEDC Board Member Passes Away at 99
Carl Wallnau was a man who had a zest for life. He never stopped learning. His apartment was filled with stacks of manuals and books. Carl was a man of many talents, he was a writer, he played the trumpet, he was an engineer, an attorney & a corporate executive. He dabbled in the stock market as a day trader just for fun. He was a strong family-oriented person.
Carl served in WWII under both Patton and Jimmy Doolittle surviving many adventures in Tunisia, Naples, Sicily and behind the lines in Paris. After the war he continued his adventures as a field engineer for Standard Oil, building high pressure liquid propane installation in Haiti, Cuba, and Dominic Republic-during their political revolutions. He then worked in Sales and Marketing for Meenan Oil where he was promoted to Vice President and acquisition specialist for Meenan Oil. While with Meenan Oil he bought and sold over 50 companies and put the company on the New York Stock Exchange. After leaving Meenan in 1983, he became the CEO and attorney of Standard Oil.
Carl and his late wife Margaret raised four children, Carl Jr., Lance, Kurt and Joyce. He was a doting grandfather to seven grandchildren.
He demonstrated his deep sense of community commitment with Bucks County. He volunteered on the boards of Lower Bucks County Hospital, United Way of Bucks County, American Red Cross Chapter-Bucks County, Bucks County Community College Foundation, Bucks County Planning Commission, NAWC Economic Adjustment Committee as well as Bucks County EDC.
Carl served on the BCEDC Board of Directors for 52 years. He served as president 1968-1969 and chaired the Audit committee. He wrote the EDC’s by-laws and reviewed legal and financial documents for the corporation. He was awarded the Life Time Achievement award in 2008. Carl retired from the board of directors as a member at large in 2016.
Anyone who had the pleasure to meet Carl felt pretty much the same about him.
Carl was very valuable to the EDC and its successes. His invaluable insights and commitment to excellence will always be remembered, as well as his enthusiasm and passion for life.
“About 30 years ago, knowing none of the then BCIDC Board members, I arrived at my first Board meeting at the Brick Hotel in Newtown. Looking for a seat, a then much younger Carl Wallnau said to me, “sit here Cousin”. He explained who he was who and was my buddy ever since.
I think anyone who knew Carl would say after reading this: ‘That sounds like Carl’.”
— Rob Steinhart, BCEDC Board Member at large.
“If everyone who knew Carl would try to be a little more like him when thinking of him, the world would be a better place. For me, it will be trying to be a better listener. Carl had the unique ability to make you feel like whatever you were discussing with him was the most important thing to him at that particular moment.”
— Phil Eastman, BCEDC Board Secretary.