Peter Westhead, contract negotiator

When Peter C. Westhead was 3, he was stricken with polio, said his younger brother Paul, a former college, NBA, and WNBA basketball coach.

"When he was about 10, he had three or four major surgeries to give him the ability to use his arms and legs," Paul said. "They did a good job."

He still didn't run well enough to play baseball. But when Peter was 12 and Paul was 7, the West Philadelphia neighborhood kids "let him play."

"He could swing the bat pretty well, and I would run for him because he couldn't run," Paul recalled. Besides, Paul couldn't hit.

For a few years, "it was a great combination."

On Saturday, July 9, Peter Westhead, 82, of Marlton, a manager of contract negotiations at Radio Corp. of America in South Jersey and later for Boeing Co. in Ridley Township, died of a respiratory illness at Virtua Voorhees Hospital.

Mr. Westhead worked for RCA from the 1960s into the 1980s, his brother said, and for Boeing from the 1980s into the early 2000s.

Paul Westhead was head basketball coach for La Salle University from 1970 to 1979, and then for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, and Denver Nuggets, and for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.

"Despite his handicap," Paul Westhead said, his brother "had a full life."

When Mr. Westhead worked for Boeing, he "did a good bit of traveling," often going to corporate headquarters in Washington state, he said.

Though his brother was not in pain as an adult, he said, "his body was limited in what he could do."

Mr. Westhead graduated from West Catholic High School in 1952 and studied business at Villanova University.

In Mount Laurel, where he lived before moving to Marlton in 2007, he coached several neighborhood sports teams.

"He coached football, basketball, and baseball, when I was young," son Peter C. Jr., said.

Patrick Healey, who knew him for 14 years, recalled Mr. Westhead as a man with "great stories about sports."

Though "his hands had been crippled, he never complained," Healey said. "He was a very likable man."

Besides his son, Mr. Westhead is survived by son James, daughters Doris DiGiovanni and Jane DiPietro, and nine grandchildren. His wife of 55 years, Doris, died in 2012. He was predeceased also by son Paul W. and daughter Susan Anne.

A viewing was set from 8:45 to 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, July 13, at St. Isaac Jogues Church, 3 Lord Place, Marlton, before an 11 a.m. Funeral Mass there, with later inurnment at SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Marple Township.

Donations may be sent to the alumni office at West Catholic Preparatory High School, 4501 Chestnut St. Philadelphia 19139.

Condolences may be offered to the family at mccannhealey.com.

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