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In Memory of William W. Scranton (1917-2013)

William W. Scranton, Pennsylvania's 38th governor, died July 28, 2013 in Montecito, California. He was 96 years old.

Gov. Scranton served as a DRBC member during his one-term as governor from 1963 to 1967. These years were the agency's formative period, when the commission adopted its first Water Resources Program (a six-year action timetable based on the long-range content of the Comprehensive Plan) as well as its Rules of Practice and Procedure.

Gov. Scranton along with the other four members of the newly created DRBC were tested with the challenges of addressing not only the basin's six-year "drought of record" (1961 to 1967), but also the great public outcry for cleanup of polluted waters. As described in the DRBC's 1966 annual report:

"Since the commission's compact jurisdiction encompasses virtually all phases of water management, the agency was thrown immediately into the midst of these critical situations. Under arrangements forged by the commission, the drought perils that confronted Delaware-reliant areas have been warded off thus far. The major tests of the commission's pollution abatement effectiveness still lie ahead, although the start has been made."

The DRBC commissioners and staff offer our condolences to the Scranton Family.

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The February 27, 1963 DRBC meeting held in Wilmington, Del. was the first commission session attended by all four basin state governors and Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall (appointed by President Kennedy as the DRBC federal member). Pictured in the photo on this page (from left to right) are Delaware Gov. Elbert Carvel, New Jersey Gov. Richard Hughes, Secretary Udall, New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller, Pennsylvania Gov. William Scranton, and Lt. General W.K. Wilson, Jr. (Chief of Army Engineers).