HENRY JOSEPH CROUSE

CROUSE, Henry Joseph Former Vice President of Strategic Relations at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) Passed away on February 6th after a long illness. He was born in Boston City Hospital, served two-years in the United States Army, and was a graduate of Boston University. Henry was one of the very early employees of Digital Equipment Corporation (Badge #26), which became the fastest growing company in US history. The early employees like Henry were critical resources in creating that great success. He was instrumental in building DEC's worldwide supply base and introduced external resources as a corporate strategy. He is given great credit, along with others, for his role in DEC's tremendous growth in the 1970's and 80's employing more than 116,000 people and becoming a $14 billion corporation. Over the course of 40 years, from 1957 to 1998, DEC employed over 350,000 employees worldwide, and operated in every continent. The comments from Henry's former colleagues are all consistent. "Henry always represented the values that made Digital a great place to work. Honesty at all times and in all situations, concern for every employee to ensure that all were treated fairly, commitment to company goals before personal goals," said Lon Beaupre. "Henry was indeed a valued person as a boss, friend and one of the true good people I've known. I refer to Henry often when there is talk about DEC. And even the way businesses are run today," said Bill Annesi. "I worked with Henry for many years and it was always a pleasure. Henry was the consummate professional with high ethical standards not always resident in purchasing departments. Aside from day to day supplier issues needing our attention we would occasionally travel together to negotiate annual agreements with Digital's top suppliers. I remember a trip to Texas Instruments in the 70's. Digital was ramping up PDP11 production and we were dependent on TI. We quickly realized that Henry had their attention when Morris Chang was introduced as their principal negotiator. Morris was Group Vice President for all of TI's semiconductor business and went on in the eighties to be the billionaire founder of Taiwan Semiconductor. Henry was able to convince him that Digital could become one of his largest customers, and we got the supply assurances from TI that we needed," said Bob Puffer Henry's closest friend with whom he shared ownership in a plane, Tom Stockebrand, shared this. "Henry was one of the kindest, most gentle people I have known. He demonstrated calmness under stress and was a good role model for how to live life. He had a droll sense of humor and a spirit of adventure. When he was production manager we would sometimes run out of parts and be "forced" to jump in the Cessna to fly off to a supplier and pick them up." "During his time as purchasing manager, Henry was an ardent supporter of Digital's minority vendor program, and played a part in forming the New England Minority Purchasing Council, which provided credibility to the organization as it pursued its mission. Henry was known as a fabulous dealmaker for minority businesses. Those of us who knew him in the minority business community knew him as a guy you could gain access to without difficulty. He would connect you to the right person and hold them accountable for providing you a reasonable consideration of your business proposition," said Bill Lytle, former president of the Waterbury Pen Corporation. Henry was equally supportive of minorities in his organization. Harold Epps shared a story about an irate white vendor meeting with Henry to complain about him, even using the "N" word. Henry's response was, "First he is not a "N", and if you have a problem with him go solve it with him." His support of minorities extended to mentoring and advising young black professionals on their careers. "In my early career before making an important business decision, I always consulted with Henry for his wise counsel and advice," said Ron Walker, former Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development for Massachusetts. In 1988, Digital was one of five companies that formed a computer software consortium operating system. The intent of the consortium was to develop a version of the Unix operating system to be independent of control of AT&T. Henry was named interim president of the Open Software Foundation (OSF), and returned to Digital after the OSF successfully introduced a new open software system and recruited his replacement. After returning to DEC Henry was named vice president of manufacturing for Digital Equipment Europe, stationed in Geneva, Switzerland. Most of the manufacturing plants were located in Ireland, Scotland, and Germany. When visiting the plants, the DEC pilot would often let Henry take over the controls and fly the plane, which pleased Henry to no end. His leadership was credited with supporting Digital's rapid growth during his three-year tenure. At that time, Digital was the largest employer in Ireland, and Henry was The Guest of Honor at Galway, Ireland's 500–year Birthday Celebration. As a Digital alumnus Henry was able to maintain a strong connection with many DEC Alumni across the world. "What has been particularly amazing is the DEC Spirit that exists to this day. Henry, as well as others never forgot the good old days at DEC and the many opportunities that were provided to them. After working at Digital for more than 33 years, Henry took early retirement as vice president of strategic relations and made a second career as president of early stage companies, serving on corporate boards, and as a venture capitalist. Henry and his wife Claudette are known for supporting and funding community projects. They were featured in the Boston Common Magazine December 2017 issue in the article titled, "Giving Back -- A Portfolio of Boston's Passionate Philanthropists". Henry's hobby and passion was flying. He owned several airplanes, but his piper arrow was his favorite. He enjoyed nothing more than flying family and friends to Martha's Vineyard or taking young relatives in his plane and letting them take over the controls. His son Richard said his father became reluctant to let him take the controls because he always wanted to dive. His daughter Linda fondly recalls how he taught her to drive a car, fly a plane and pilot a boat, along with valuable lessons about caring and appreciating them. She noted some of his valuable life lessons: "He was nonjudgmental and accepted, and even embraced, that everyone is different and perspective is not singular." "Often, we hear all these wonderful things about a person when he/she passes. Sometimes their stories are made to sound much better than the life they lived. That is absolutely not the case with Henry Crouse. You will hear adjectives like considerate, caring, cheerful, friendly, honest, humble, sincere, smart, patient, and understanding, etc. because that is who Henry was. Henry was not just your friend... he became everybody's brother. We will miss Henry dearly but we will never forget the wonderful times we spent with him. "A life well lived!!! Rest in Peace my brother! We will continue to love and cherish Claudette... the love of your life," M.L. Carr His parents, Alfred and Florence Crouse, and a brother, Alfred Crouse, predeceased Henry in death. He leaves his wife of 40 years, Claudette Crouse; a son Richard Crouse; a daughter Linda Crouse and her partner, Katie Milton; a sister Florence Samuels; a grandson, Arrik Crouse and his partner Abigail Throckmorton; two great-grandchildren, Aden and Ayla; a sister-in-law Marie Crouse; and a host of relatives and extended family.