E. Hornsby Wasson; Former Head of Pacific Telephone

E. Hornsby Wasson, former president and chairman of Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. and Bell Telephone Co. of Nevada, has died. He was 89.

Wasson, who headed the utility from 1965 until his retirement in 1970, died Aug. 27 in Chattanooga, Tenn., where he grew up.

He also served one term as chairman and many years as a member of the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Wasson’s career with the telephone company spanned 44 years. He began in 1926 as a salesman for Southern Bell Telephone Co. in Chattanooga and worked for that division in four other states.

In 1950, Wasson was named vice president for public relations at Northwestern Bell Telephone in Omaha and two years later moved to New York City as a vice president of American Telephone & Telegraph Co. He was president of New Jersey Bell from 1959 until 1965, when he moved to San Francisco to assume the Pacific presidency.

Educated at McCallie School and the University of Tennessee, both in Chattanooga, Wasson served as a trustee of both and in 1977 was named the university’s outstanding alumnus. He also served as chairman of Stanford Research Institute International.

Wasson was a board member of several major companies, including Standard Oil of California, which named a supertanker in his honor.

Widowed twice, Wasson is survived by a son and a daughter, three sisters, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be made to the Hospice of Chattanooga, 165 Hamm Road, Chattanooga, Tenn. 37405.