Pruning U. americana

grilling24x7

I'm still in my quest to find the perfect shade tree. Right now i'm leaning towards a disease resistant cultivar of U. americana, but I'm not 100% sure.

Anyway - I read in a tree book the following regarding U. americana:

"Prune young trees when dormant, removing lower limbs to develop a main leader as high up as possible."

Now I'm thinking long term here - but for my purposes I want foliage at about 12-15 feet high. Some of the photos I see online have these amazing looking trees with foliage high up in the 30-40 ft range, just trunk at the 15 range.
Would a "properly" pruned tree eventually lose foliage at 15 ft b/c of pruning?

Also, a rookie tree question: What would happen if I never pruned it? Or minimually pruned it to keep foliage where I need it for shade?

Thanks,

John