Born and raised in Ogden, Prawitt continues to live independently in his home, where he has taken up the hobby of propagating African violets. He remains an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and serves regularly as an ordinance worker in the Ogden Utah Temple.

“To go in there with all the temple brothers and sisters that I work with, there’s nothing that equals the love in that,” Prawitt told the Standard-Examiner. “Here’s a 91-year-old guy, who can hardly get around, but can you believe the love I get? Now, I get teased a lot because I take baby steps with a cane. ‘Don’t go so fast down the hallway. Slow down.’ Well, they’re teasing me, but it was all in love.”

Prawitt is an Ogdenite at heart, but he has lived in places around the U.S. and internationally in Japan and Germany throughout his life. A retired Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army, he served 22 years in a dual career as an electrical engineer and army aviator. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam, flying reconnaissance missions in the Cessna O-1 Bird Dog.

He later concluded his career as the aviation advisor to the Wyoming National Guard in Cheyenne, flying the “Huey” helicopter.

“I’m a senior aviator. I have over 3,500 hours of flight time in military aircraft,” Prawitt said.

While serving in Tokyo at the Far East office of the Army Science and Technology Center, Prawitt says he played a role in bringing flat panel display technology developed by the Sharp Company to the U.S.

“We had interpreters who could read and write English, and they picked up an article in one of their magazines about Sharp Company developing a flat panel display,” Prawitt said. “I sent it back to our headquarters in Charlottesville, Virginia. They didn’t bother to write me a letter — they called me on the telephone from Charlottesville to Tokyo and said ‘Go back down there and find out what this flat panel thing is.’ And, if possible, to get a sample of it.”

After a bullet-train ride down to Osaka, Prawitt first laid eyes on the new technology — a flat panel connected to a cathode-ray tube television, mirroring the TV’s images in brown tones. After receiving orders from headquarters to acquire a display along with its instructions, regardless of the cost, two devices were purchased at a cost of $10,000 each and the new tech was sent back to the U.S., according to Prawitt.

Prawitt counts the experience among his greatest accomplishments, even as he acknowledges that flat panel displays would have made their way to the U.S. eventually.

“These panels have evolved. Can you imagine where these panels have gone to? Your cellphone, TV, computer monitors, these little panels with pictures on them — all evolved from that panel,” he said.

In May 2024, Prawitt was selected to participate in a Utah Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. in recognition of his service during the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. In addition to his military exploits, Prawitt is also a member of the Beehive Model A Ford Club, having restored three Model As during his lifetime.

Prawitt married his childhood sweetheart, Diana, in 1953 and, together, they raised four children — two boys and two girls — who went on to produce dozens of grandchildren. Diana died in 2009.

Asked about the secret behind his longevity, Prawitt suggested good genetics may have played a part. He also noted that he has maintained a healthy diet, takes his vitamins and isn’t on any prescription drugs.

“A lot of people don’t believe that I’m 91 years old,” Prawitt said with a laugh. “I’m not a skeleton — I still have hair.”