Bernard B. Klawans | Aerospace engineer, 90

Bernard B. Klawans, 90, of Wayne, a retired aerospace engineer for General Electric Co. in King of Prussia and founder of a mutual fund, died Saturday, Dec. 3, of renal failure at Shannondell, a retirement community in Audubon, Montgomery County.

Born in Annapolis, Md., he attended high school there and went on to the University of Maryland, where he graduated in 1942 with a bachelor's degree in engineering.

He worked as an aerospace engineer, starting at Langley Field, Va., during World War II. He moved to Martin Marietta Co. in Baltimore in 1956.

From 1960 until his retirement in 1981, he was with GE.

Mr. Klawans was founder and president of Valley Forge Fund Inc., a mutual fund, and Valley Forge Management Corp., its management company, from 1971 to the present.

"He was the investment guy that picks the stocks," said his son-in-law Bill Texter.

A competitive man, Mr. Klawans played duplicate bridge and raced sailboats. "He never sailed for fun; he sailed to race," said Texter. Mr. Klawans earned hundreds of trophies as a result.

For fun, he went on 62 cruises, many of which featured jazz because he liked to dance, Texter said.

"The last cruise he went on with his two granddaughters, 18 and 20, was to Canada," Texter said. "He got dialysis in Boston on the Fourth of July. He was beaming."

He was married for 50 years to the former Nancy Wall, who he met at work. She died in 1999 of cancer.

Surviving are a son, Scott; two daughters, Sandra Texter and Kerry Williams; and five grandchildren.

A private burial service was held Tuesday, Dec. 6, at the Hebrew Friendship Cemetery in Baltimore. A memorial service will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22, at Beth Chaim Reform Congregation, 389 Conestoga Rd., Malvern.

Memorial donations may be made to the National Kidney Foundation at www.kidney.org.