A frosting recipe and a family legacy at Pratt & Whitney
To understand how deep the Fox family’s connections run with Pratt & Whitney, you first need to understand their love for almond frosting.
It has been the finishing touch on every family birthday cake Kim Fox can remember. The recipe was clipped from a copy of the old Pratt & Whitney newsletter, The Power Plant, that her grandfather brought home from work in the 1950s.
“I’m always like, ‘How about chocolate?’ And they’re like, ‘No, we want the almond frosting,’” said Fox, a fourth-generation Pratt & Whitney employee.
Just as the frosting is a staple at the Fox family’s celebrations, the family itself is a staple at Pratt & Whitney – five generations and counting, dating back 75 of the business’ 100 years.
75 years of work and family
It all started when Kim Fox’s great-grandfather, Henry York, joined Pratt & Whitney as a second-shift machinist in 1944 at the East Hartford, Connecticut, site. Her grandfather, Ray Kearney, then joined the company in 1951 as a forgings operator at East Hartford.
In 1965, her father, Carl Weber Jr., became a lathe operator in East Hartford, and in 1986, she joined the company as a clerk in the Bid Receipt Center at the same site. When she later moved to the facilities department, she met Scott Fox, whom she married in 1993, and whose father, Murray Fox, also worked in engine test at the East Hartford site from 1950 to 1955.
“It makes me proud,” said Kim Fox. “It’s very special.”
In 2016, Scott and Kim Fox’s daughter, Sarah, joined the company as a military engines account analyst at the East Hartford site. And just as her parents met at work, Sarah Fox met her fiancé, James Titcomb, there at work in 2020.
“We are super excited, and I think he’s excited to continue the legacy, too,” Sarah Fox said. “The company takes care of us. I feel like we all agree that there are so many benefits to working at Pratt & Whitney. I feel very lucky to be employed by such a great company.”
The Fox family’s story is among many Pratt & Whitney is celebrating as part of its centennial anniversary.
A place to learn and grow your career
Sarah Fox earned her MBA from the University of Connecticut in marketing and international business, and is now a doctoral candidate in psychology at Capella University – all fully paid for by the company’s Employee Scholar Program.
“I’m super grateful and appreciative for the benefits and opportunities that this company has allowed me to pursue and just grow myself,” she said. “This company treats its employees really well, and that’s been important to me to live the life I want to live. Pratt & Whitney lets me do that.”
Like her daughter, Kim Fox earned her bachelor’s degree through the company’s benefits. She sees Pratt & Whitney as a place full of opportunities to build a rewarding career.
“There’s so much to learn within this company,” said Kim Fox. “It’s so large. There’s no reason why you have to sit in one department if that’s not what you want to do. Don't stop moving.”
‘A sense of pride’
Kim Fox remembers driving with her mom to pick up her dad after he worked second shift as a machinist at the East Hartford site. She would watch in awe as the employees came streaming out of the building at once.
“It was like ants coming out of an ant hill because they came from everywhere,” she said. “It was wild to see all those people back then.”
Later, Kim Fox worked at Pratt & Whitney at the same time as her dad and grandfather, just as Sarah did alongside her parents. Sarah Fox has similar childhood memories. Her parents brought her to “Take Your Child to Work Day” – and when she started working at the same site years later, she saw many of the same people.
“It was really surreal to have my own office there and then eventually move out into the shop, be on the floor and see so many faces that I recognized from when I was little,” said Sarah Fox. “It was really nice to share that with my parents.”
And each year when Sarah Fox volunteers at the New York Airshow, she feels pride in looking back at her family’s and the company’s history – and in looking forward.
“Watching our engines from, you know, the F100 and even the older bombers, up to that F135, there is such a sense of pride from everyone involved,” said Sarah Fox. “I feel that way when I see the 100 years to know that my family had a part in it for a good chunk of that.”
The Fox family’s Pratt & Whitney Almond Frosting recipe (originally published in The Power Plant newsletter in the 1950s)
Ingredients:
1 box confectioners sugar
1 cup Crisco solid shortening
4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp cream or milk
2 tsp almond extract
1 large or 2 small egg whites
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together EXCEPT egg whites. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes, then add egg whites, and beat again 4-5 min. Color with few drops of liquid food dye and mix.
