Paul J. Prosser Jr.

Co-owner and officer of an international engineering firm served aboard a Navy destroyer during World War II

Paul J. Prosser Jr., co-owner of a Glen Arm engineering firm and a World War II naval veteran who enjoyed reunions with his former shipmates, died of congestive heart failure Friday at his Timonium home. He was 95. The son of Paul J. Prosser Sr., president of the Baugh Chemical Co., and Nellie Lorette Ross, a Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. operator, Paul John Prosser Jr. was born in Baltimore and raised in Hamilton.

After graduating from Loyola High School in 1938, Mr. Prosser earned a bachelor’s degree in 1942 from what is now Loyola University Maryland.

After graduating from Loyola, he enlisted in the Navy and was commissioned an officer. Mr. Prosser spent most of his naval career in the Pacific as an executive officer aboard the Fletcher-class destroyer USS La Vallette.

In January 1943, during the La Vallette’s first engagement off Rennell Island in the Solomons, its crew shot down three Japanese Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bombers one day, then six more the next day.

Mr. Prosser was aboard the destroyer when it participated in major actions in the Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, New Guinea, Leyte Gulf and Luzon.

While escorting the heavy cruiser USS Chicago that had been torpedoed and later sank, the La Vallette was hit by an aerial torpedo that killed 22 of its crew.

Then, in January 1945, as the ship was entering Manila Bay in the Philippines, it struck a mine. Six crewmen were killed; another 23 were wounded.

“He had just walked out of the engine room when the La Vallette hit the mine. It destroyed the engine room,” said Mr. Prosser’s daughter, Marcia P. “Marci” Reihart of Stewartstown, Pa.

According to the Destroyer History Foundation, the La Vallette, which earned10 battle stars, was the only American destroyer to be both torpedoed and mined during the war.

After being discharged in 1946, Mr. Prosser took a job at Kenmar Corp., and three years later joined the Baugh Chemical Co., a Fells Point fertilizer company.

After the business was sold to KerrMcGee Chemical Corp. in 1964, Mr. Prosser, who was executive vice president, resigned.

He then joined the business of his brother, Joseph L. Prosser Jr., a former chief engineer at Baugh.

Joseph Prosser had established Prosser Co. in 1961. The engineering and construction firm built fertilizer plants around the world.

The company had many subsidiaries, including the Prosser Co. in Belize and the Ray V. Watson Co. in Baltimore, which operated in 17 countries.

“The Prosser Co. opened in Belize in the early 1970s and was the first chemical company in that country. Supplies were shipped and then transferred to the plant by rail car,” Ms. Reihart wrote in an email.

“He took me there when I was 18 years old. It was quite an experience to attend meetings with government officials including the prime minister and the ministers of agriculture and finance,” she wrote.

When the father and daughter arrived in Belize, there was a longshoremen’s strike in progress and workers refused to unload the ships.

“I quickly saw my dad’s business acumen go into action,” she recalled in the email. “There is no better education than that. He was a stern, respectful, respected negotiator. The strike ended and the business resumed.”

An officer and co-owner of the company, Mr. Prosser retired in 1982. His brother died in May.

Mr. Prosser had been a longtime member and former chairman of the Fertilizer Industry Round Table and had been a division director of the National Crushed Stone Association.

In the 1980s, the crew of the La Vallette began holding reunions. Mr. Prosser and his wife hosted two of the reunions — which used to be held every other year and are now an annual event. In 2013, Ms. Reihart and her husband, Ed, hosted the reunion at Gettysburg, Pa.

“He did not talk about his Navy years until later in his life when he attended reunions and we heard about his experiences,” his daughter said.

“Children and grandchildren loved attending these events and meeting the heroes of the greatest generation,” Ms. Reihart said.

Mr. Prosser lived for 40 years on Upnor Road in Homeland before moving to Timonium11 years ago.

He favored bow ties and perfectly chilled martinis.

“He loved hosting parties for family and neighborhood cocktail parties,” his daughter said. “He was a very social host but was quiet otherwise.”

Mr. Prosser also enjoyed reading and doing crossword puzzles. He also an avid traveler.

His first wife of 33 years, the former Julia Celeste Zeller, died in 1980.

A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 11 a.m. today at Stella Maris, 2300 Dulaney Valley Road, Timonium.

In addition to his daughter, he is survived by his wife of 32 years, the former Dorothy Bell Barnhill; a son, Paul J. Prosser III of New Freedom, Pa.; a stepdaughter, Barbara B. Wood of Bradenton, Fla.; 10 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren. Paul J. Prosser Jr. enjoyed hosting family parties and neighborhood cocktail parties.