Samuel (Sam) Petok, retired aerospace executive and distinguished communicator, died April 27 in Skillman, NJ. He was 86. Mr. Petok and his wife, Fayne, of 56 years, have been residents of Skillman, NJ and in the Princeton, NJ
area since 1992.

Mr. Petok retired in 1988 from Rockwell International, best known as the prime contractor of the NASA space shuttles, as senior vice president and member of the management committee. He had been the company's principal public relations and advertising officer for more than a decade.

In 1988 his alma mater, Wayne State University, honored him with its Distinguished Alumni Award for "his outstanding achievements in the communications profession." He had been an active alumnus and president of the University's Alumni Association in 1965-1966.

Mr. Petok served two terms as chairman of the Public Affairs Council of the Aerospace Industries Association and twice was elected national chairman of the Public Relations Committee of the Society of Automotive Engineers Congress.

A former trustee of the Historical Society of Princeton, he was a member of the Old Guard of Princeton, Nassau Club, Friends of the Institute for Advanced Study, the Overseas Press Club of America, the Arthur W. Page Society of senior public relations executives, the Public Relations Society of America and Cherry Valley Country Club, where he was a regular participant in its weekly men's duplicate bridge game.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Mr. Petok began his career as a journalist with the Detroit Free Press and in 1948 won a Page One Award for the best job of reporting in Michigan, based on a series of articles concerning the discovery of uranium in the Upper Peninsula.

Mr. Petok was an account executive with the advertising agency, McCann-Erickson, before joining Chrysler Corporation in 1952, where he succeeded to public relations director of Chrysler-Plymouth Division, the company's principal sales group.

While there in 1963 he took a local Los Angeles Plymouth automobile dealers' contest for aspiring high school auto mechanics national. Today that program continues sponsored by the Ford Motor Company and the AAA as the Students Auto Skills contest, which annually attracted 60,000 entrants in 50 states.

In 1964, the Public Relations Society of America recognized the program with its National Silver Anvil Award.

In his memoirs, Mr. Petok has written "I was humbled by the huge impact the program has had over the past 40 plus years upon the countless thousands of young men in high school who went on to rewarding careers as auto mechanics because of this national contest. This was my most satisfying PR accomplishment."

He left Chrysler after 18 years for a position at White Motor Corporation in 1971 as vice president, public relations and advertising, and five years later joined Rockwell.

Fortune Magazine presented Mr. Petok with an award in 1985 for creating a Rockwell advertising campaign judged by Fortune to have exceeded the average of all ads appearing in its magazine 1985: "specific ads scored nearly twice as high." That year, Financial World Magazine named Rockwell's annual financial report "best in category"; one of only 12 reports among 1,200 entries.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by three children, Carol Barkin, of Morris Township, NJ; Seth D. Petok of Riverside, Conn. and Michael A. Petok, of Sherman Oaks, CA, and seven grandchildren.

A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, May 1, 2009 at 12:15 PM in Temple B'nai Or, 60 Overlook Road, Morristown, NJ. The family will sit Shiva on Sunday from 4PM with a Minyan at 7PM at 5 mark twain Drive, Morris Township, NJ 07960.

Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of the donor's choice.