Long-delayed public memorial for Amo Houghton set for Saturday at CMoG

Jeff Smith, The Leader
·2 min read

A public memorial honoring the life of Amory Houghton Jr., a longtime fixture who led Corning Glass Works for nearly 20 years and later served nine terms as a member of Congress, will be held Saturday at the Corning Museum of Glass.

Houghton died March 4, 2020, at the age of 93.

The memorial event will take place from 4-6 p.m. and will feature the remembrances of his son Robert Houghton and Corning Inc. President and CEO Wendell P. Weeks, according to Emily Drzewiecki, a CMoG spokesperson.

“I talked to Amo right up until the end,” said Tom Dimitroff, a local historian who wrote about the Houghton family. “He just kept asking me, 'Tom can you tell me anything more I can do for Corning?' His heart was in the right place. He loved this community and he loved the people and that never wavered a bit.”

Amo Houghton was joined by his wife Priscilla at the Radisson Hotel Corning in 2000 when he announced his plans to run for re-election that year. Priscilla passed away in 2012. [THE LEADER FILES]
Amo Houghton was joined by his wife Priscilla at the Radisson Hotel Corning in 2000 when he announced his plans to run for re-election that year. Priscilla passed away in 2012. [THE LEADER FILES]

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Houghton, whose great-great-grandfather founded what was to become Corning Inc. in 1851, was born in Corning on Aug. 7, 1926.

Houghton was a PFC in the US Marine Corps during the final year of WWII before he earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1950 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1952. That same year, he joined what was then Corning Glass Works as a junior process engineer at the Fallbrook, New York, plant. In 1954, Houghton served as a sales engineer for the electrical products division, later being promoted to manager of Electrical Components.

Houghton was named a member of the company’s board of directors, as well as vice president of Corning Glass Works in 1957, before being appointed president in 1961. Then in 1964, he was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Corning Glass Works.

Among his numerous accomplishments, Amo led the recovery efforts after Hurricane Agnes flooded the Corning area in 1972; he initiated Corning’s first LPGA event in 1976; and he supported the expansion of the Corning Museum of Glass in 1980.

This article originally appeared on The Leader: After long delay, public memorial for Amo Houghton is Saturday at CMoG