OBITUARIES
Scroll down below 2017 Obituaries for a link to previous obituaries or CLICK HERE.
2019
James Paul “Jim” Zehnder, 84, died November 25.
He alternated the CEO role of Earnest Machine Products Co. with his brother. The company was founded in 1948 by his father, Paul Zehnder.
He was an ordained Lutheran minister for 20 years before joining the family company.
Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Margaret; son Dan Zehnder; daughters Mary and Barbara; nine grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his brother John.
The funeral was held November 29. Graveside service will be at 1pm on December 7 at Sunset Memorial Park, North Olmsted, OH.
Joe Greenslade died October 23.
He was highly respected in the fastener industry. He began his 45-year fastener career in 1970 working for various fastener manufacturers, including CAMCAR-Textron and Rockford Headed Products, before founding Greenslade and Company, a designer and manufacturer of dimensional measuring devices and a calibration laboratory, in 1978.
He sold the company in 2007 and began working as technical director for the Industrial Fasteners Institute, a position he called his “dream job.” Greenslade retired from IFI in 2015 when Salim Brahimi took over as technical director. He remained a special consultant to IFI, maintaining the upkeep of the IFI Technology Connection software that he had developed.
In 2016, Greenslade, who held a BA in business management from Texas A&M University, was given the IFI Soaring Eagle Service Award for outstanding time and effort in leadership of the IFI and / or contributions to the health and well-being of the fastener industry.
That same year, he received the Fred F. Weingruber Award from ASTM International Committee F16 on Fasteners. An ASTM member since 1994, Greenslade worked on multiple F16 subcommittees, as well as on Committee B08 on Metallic and Inorganic Coatings.
Outside ASTM, Greenslade was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Industrial Fasteners Institute, the International Organization for Standardization, and the Research Council on Structural Connections and SAE International.
Greenslade authored more than 200 trade journal articles and served on ASME B1 and B18, ASTM F16 and SAE fastener committees. He was a member of the Public Law Task Force for the U.S. Fastener Quality Act and the Screw Thread Conformance Task Force for the revision of aerospace thread design and thread gaging practices for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Defense. He was also an A2LA board member.
Greenslade held 12 U.S. patents on fastener-related products and was a member of the NIFS Hall of Fame.
He is survived by his wife Lillian; son Joseph Jr.; daughter Heather; step-daughter Jennifer Vance; and grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Joe’s project at Paschal High School, www.paschalpantherhero.org.
Gordon Vandermeulen, 76, died October 19.
Vandermeulen and his wife, Elaine, acquired Grand Rapids Bolt & Nut in 1976 and retired at the end of 2016 with nearly 41 years in the business. The company was renamed Great Lakes Fasteners & Supply in 1987. Click here for Vandermeulen’s retirement story.
During 2016, Great Lakes by the New York-based private equity company High Road Capital Partners.
Survivors include his wife Elaine and several children.
A memorial service will be held November 2 at Grace Community Church at 2 pm. In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to Grace Community Church – Solid Ground Youth Ministry, 3500 New Holland Street, Hudsonville, MI 49426. Web: glfasteners.com
Arnold R. “Arnie” Craven Jr., 65, president of Phillips Fasteners, died October 13, 2019. Most of his career was in manufacturing and selling exterior wood screws. After obtaining three patents for Deck Mate screws he built a factory in Taiwan.
A native of Connecticut, he also lived in Massachusetts and Taiwan.
Survivors include three children: Justine Craven-Goetz; Arnold Craven III; and William Craven; four grandchildren; and lifelong friend, John Gallagher.
The family suggests memorial donations to: Baystate Hospice, 50 Maple St., Springfield, MA 01102.
Edward D. Otto, 93, died September 21, 2019. He started his career with Proctor & Gamble and IBM and in 1956 he entered the fastener industry with Standard Press Steel (SPS) of Philadelphia in the company’s Syracuse, NY, office. In 1965 he joined Fastron Company in Chicago as executive VP and general manager. In 1969, he became president of Fasteners Inc., in Newington, CT. He sold the company in 1997.
He was a founder and president of the New England Fastener Distributors Association and was inducted into the group’s Hall of Fame. He also was a National Fastener Distributor Association board member.
Survivors include his wife, Doris Manning Otto; his daughter, Audrey; and two granddaughters. His first wife, Madeleine Murphy Otto, predeceased him in 1988.
The family suggests memorial donations to St. Peter Claver Church or Services for the Elderly of Farmington, Inc., 321 New Britain Ave., Unionville, CT 06085. Messages to the family may be sent online: MolloyFuneralHome.com.
Survivors include fiancé Debi Lucchetti and her three children.
Visitation will be 4pm to 8pm June 28th at Davenport Family Funeral Home in Lake Zurich. There will be a mass at Saint Anne Catholic Community at 10am June 29th, followed by a luncheon at Francesca’s in Barrington. In lieu of flowers, donation may be made to a local animal shelter.
Messages to the family may be sent c/o Associated Fastening Products Inc., 700 Hilltop Dr., Itasca, IL 60143. Email: sales@AssociatedFastening.com
In 1988 he started working at Construction Tool &Threading Company of Southern California and five years later he purchased the nuts and bolts manufacturer. He sold the company to Industrial Threaded Products in 2019. He started working in a Chicago steel mill. In the 1960s he moved to Southern California and worked for Ryerson Steel for seven year and then Sullivan Bolt.
John T. “Jack” Butcher Jr., 79, founder of Industrial Bolt & Supply Inc. in Auburn, Washington, died March 24.
Butcher and his wife, Linda Butcher, founded the distributorship in 1977 and managed it for 30 years. It grew from two employees to 40 employees with salespeople in seven Western states.
He had been on the Specialty Tools & Fastener Distributors Association board. He retired in 2007 and sold the business to his children: daughter Michelle St. John, is IBS president and was the 2018 STAFDA president; and son, Derek Butcher, is CEO.
As a Rotary Club member and president he participated in polio eradication efforts in Ethiopia, immunizing children with the life saving polio vaccine, a cause that was dear to his heart, as he had polio as a child. The family suggests memorial donations to Global Polio Eradication Initiative http://polioeradication.org/financing/donate/.
Messages to the family may be sent to: IBS, 740 Clay St. NW, Auburn, WA 98001. Email: michelle@IndustrialBolt.com
Cary Weitzman, 71, died March 7, 2019. He was VP and a partner of Jay-Cee Sales & Rivet, where he started working in 1969.
“Cary’s legacy at Jay-Cee Sales will continue through his son’s Allan and Greg Weitzman, brother in law Michael Clinton, and nephews Jason and Bryan Clinton,” stated Jay-Cee manager Allan Weitzman.
Survivors include his wife Rebecca Weitzman; daughter Hayley (Brad) Warren; sons Greg (Lindsey) Weitzman, and Allan (Tracy) Weitzman; and seven grandchildren.
Messages to the family may be sent c/o Jay-Cee Sales & Rivet, 32861 Chesley Dr., Farmington, MI 48336. Tel: 248 478-2150 Email: allan@rivetsinstock.com
Gary Kenneth Lilly and Elizabeth “Betty Lou” Lilly, both 70, died in a car wreck on January 9, 2019. He was the owner of Delaware-based Kenneth G. Lilly Fasteners, Inc. – a distributorship founded in 1964 by his father, Kenneth Granville Lilly.
Survivors include a son, Kevin (Gina) Lilly; and nine grandchildren. They were preceded in death by another son, Brian Lilly.
Messages to the family may be sent c/o Kenneth G. Lilly Fasteners, 855 Dawson Dr., Newark, DE 19713. Email: sales@KGLilly.com Web: KGLilly.com
2018
Robert Allan “Bob” Lehman, 90, died December 29, 2018.
He started in the fastener industry in 1956 as an intern for All Stainless Inc. in Boston while earning his bachelor’s degree at Northeastern University on the GI Bill. After graduating, he started his first sales job at Albany Products in Connecticut where he met his future wife, Joyce who was working as the assistant to Edith Cameron.
In 1961, he became president of a startup company called Bell Fasteners in Paramus, NJ. During his 15 years with Bell, he strengthened the ties between distributors and suppliers as he vowed to sell through distribution only.
He was active in the National Fastener Distributors Association and was a Metropolitan Fastener Distributors Association board member.
After Bell Fasteners was sold in 1976, the Lehman family moved to Southern California and he became Western region vice president for fastener distributor AFCOM Inc. However, in his heart, he was always a supplier, and he soon became general manager of the California branches of both Bossard and Majestic Screw & Bolt.
In 1980, he and Joyce started Pacific Warehouse Sales. The initial business model was to be a stocking manufacturer’s representative and a wholesale distributor. Using his contacts from his East Coast days, he found a manufacturer wanting to partner with PWS. In 1985, Deb, the first of his three daughters, started at PWS and was joined soon by her sisters Kelly and Tracy. Bob had his dream of having his whole family working in the fastener industry.
He was instrumental in starting the Western Association of Fastener Distributors – now known as the Pac-West Fastener Association. He was WAFD secretary from 1982-1985 and later board member of the Los Angeles Fastener Association as well.
In 1993, Bob and Joyce moved to Phoenix and gave their daughters ownership of the company. In 1994, Bob was inducted into the IFE Fastener Hall of Fame.
Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Joyce “Bonnie”; daughters, Deb Kanne (Larry), Tracy Nelson (Todd); and Kelly Lehman; two grandsons, Ryan and Tyler Kanne; and brother, Charlie Lehman (Sally).
A memorial service will be at 11:30am Wednesday, January 9, 2019, at the Old North Church, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, CA.
Memorial donations may be made to the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation: rizzo44.com. Memories of Bob may be shared at: bob-lehman.forevermissed.com. Messages to the family may be sent c/o Pacific Warehouse Sales, 15368 El Prado Rd., Chino CA, 91710. Email: Kelly@PacificWarehouseSales.com
He started in the fastener industry in 1963 with Great Lakes Screw Corp. and rose to vice president of operations. At age 32 he started Midwest Fastener Corporation to manufacture screws and bolts, primarily for the auto industry. He sold Midwest in 2001. He founded two fastener machinery companies: Fastener Equipment Corporation in 1975 and Quality Rebuilding Company of Valparaiso, IN, in 1980.
Robert “Bob” Alex, 92, died October 24, 2018. He founded Rolex Fastener Corporation in Connecticut, an aerospace tool company.
Funeral will be at 1pm October 29 at Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street Newtown, CT. The family suggests memorial donations to Wounded Warrior, PO Box 758517 Topeka, Kansas 66675-8517.
Frederick George Lubker Jr., 76, died December 7, 2018, in Stone Harbor, NJ. He founded Lufasco Inc. (Lubker Fastener Company) in 1967 and led the company until it was sold in 1998.
He started in fasteners in the early 60’s at Wynne Bolt & Screw Company of Philadelphia, when being a quick and accurate typist was key to landing office work. He advanced to inside sales rep as his passion and understanding of the fastener distribution business grew.
In 1967, with his third child recently born, he thought it time to venture out on his own. With an ‘open check’ loan from a supporting acquaintance he started Lufasco. The story is that Fred wrote the ‘blank check’ in the amount of $1,000 – big bucks in those days, with a promise he quickly honored to repay. Realizing shortly there-after that he would need support to provide customer service, he asked Rich Procopio to join him. Lufasco grew to provide fasteners in the Mid-Atlantic region, especially to OEMs.
In 1984, he bought full ownership of Lufasco.
His son Rick joined Lufasco full-time basis and eventually sons Chris and Ben came aboard. The business grew from a single facility in Exton PA, adding branches in Morgantown, PA, Hagerstown, MD, and Rock Hill, SC. In 1998, he sold Lufasco to Purchased Parts Group of Memphis, TN. He mentored his sons as Rick established Lubker Distribution in West Chester, PA; Chris became branch manager of Thruway Fasteners in Atlanta; and Ben moved to the finance industry.
He was an active member of the National Fastener Distributors Association and lectured on business entrepreneurship at industry events and college classrooms.
After the sale of Lufasco, Fred established Lubker Development, developing properties in the Southern New Jersey area. He was a member of St. Brendan the Navigator Parish St. Paul Church where he was an usher and attended daily mass. A member of Philadelphia Country Club and Ibis Golf & Country Club in West Palm Beach, he enjoyed golfing and boating.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Joanne M. Carrigan Lubker; his children, Pamela Lubker, Frederick Lubker, III, Christopher Lubker, and Benjamin Lubker; sister, Lois Miller; and nine grandchildren.
Messages to the family may be sent c/o: Lubker Distribution, 1304 Goshen Pkwy, PO Bx 1388, West Chester, PA 19380. Email: rlubker@lubkerdist.com
John “Jack” Sullivan, 90, died September 18, 2018. He co-founded Accurate Fasteners in Boston with childhood friend Jack O’Donoghue in 1960. He was president and chair for its first 50 years.
He was on the National Fastener Distributors Association board from 1981 to 1984 and was technical rep promoting quality standards for many years. He represented fastener distributors in congressional hearings on the U.S. Fastener Quality Act of 1999. After the FQA became law, he was a leader in promoting and explaining the details of the law.
He was a founder and in 1979 the first president of the New England Fastener Distributors Association. He was elected to its Hall of Fame in 1996.
He was named to the NIFS Hall of Fame in 1988.
He and his first wife, Isabelle Lafayette Beausoleil, had five children before her death in 1963. He married Anne Elcock Sullivan and together they raised seven children and eighteen grandchildren.
Survivors include wife Anne; sons Dan, Jack, Peter, Tom and Mark Sullivan; daughters Debbie Stone and Martha Sullivan; and 18 grandchildren.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10am Saturday, September 22, 2018, at St. Paul Church, Wellesley, MA. Visiting is 4 – 8pm Friday at the George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home, 477 Washington St., Wellesley. Interment in St. Mary Cemetery, Needham.
Messages to the family may be sent c/o Accurate Fasteners Inc. 550 E First St., South Boston, MA 02127.
Memorial donations may be made to Maryknoll Brothers, P.O. Box 301, Maryknoll, NY 10545-9989.
J. David Beneke, 83, died May 2, 2018, at his home in Kentucky. He held a bachelors degree from Georgetown University. He worked first for Reynolds Metals Company. In 1968, he and his father, Chuck “CJ” Beneke, founded Beneke Wire Company.
He was a past president of the Wire Association International.
He was predeceased by his wife, Ellen Hoff Beneke; and a son, David Beneke Jr.
Survivors include six children, Mary Ellen Hale (Gary), Anne Burkley (George), Susan DeWeese (Craig), Allison Beneke, Stephen Beneke (Heather), and Michael Beneke (Wendie); and 13 grandchildren.
Messages to the family may be sent c/o Beneke Wire, 5540 National Turnpike, Louisville, KY 40214. Memorial contributions may be sent to Upper Saranac Foundation, PO Bx 564, Saranac Lake, NY 12983.
Robert Glenn “Bob” Dorris, 71, died April 30, 2018, He founded Action Bolt & Screw Corporation in Nashville.
Marilu R. George, 72, a partner in Fastener Solutions Inc., died March 30, 2018.
James Timothy “Tim” Marzano, 61, president of international operations for ND Industries, died after a brief illness.
He was the 1989-91 president of the Los Angeles Fastener Association.
His wife, Kelly Lynn Marzano, had died three weeks previously.
Survivors include Mikaela Marzano and Terri Lynn Mattocks.
A celebration of life will be from 6:30 pm to 11 pm, Friday, March 23, 2018, at the Kimpton Shore Break Hotel, 500 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach, CA 92648. There will be food stations, a cash bar and a band.
Messages to the family may be sent to ND at the Western Fastener Processing Division, 13929 Dinard Ave., Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670.
Robert Curtis “Curt” Welk, 59, died unexpectedly February 25. He was president of Fastening Products of Lancaster, PA, and was the 2nd generation to own and operate the business.
Survivors include his spouse, Mary Louise Heckel Welk; daughter, Molly Lynn Robin Welk; and sons Adam Curtis Welk and Zachery Garber Welk.
Messages to the family may be sent c/o Fastening Products, 1980 Old Philadelphia Pike, Lancaster, PA 17602. Web: FasteningProducts.net
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Thon c/o Penn State, 227D Hetzel Union Bldg., University Park, PA 16802, or National Alliance on Mental Illness, P.O. Box 103, Conestoga, PA 17516.
Joseph “Joe” Scott, 78, died January 6, 2018. He and his wife Shirley Scott founded Scott Supply Service Inc., a fastener company in Tucson, AZ, and operated it from 1974 to 2011.
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