Global Fastener News

FEATURES

The fastener industry lost several business leaders in 2014.

GlobalFastenerNews.com remembers those who died this past year.

Wayne Golden, 71, chairman of Star Stainless Screw Co., died December 18.  
In 1972 he became president of Star Stainless Screw, which his father founded.  Starting with one location, he built Star into its major master distributor of stainless steel fasteners role.  

Moses Efren Cordova, 84, died December 15.  He began his career as an inventory clerk in the fastener division of Triangle Steel & Supply and rose to manager of seven branches. After 15 years with Triangle, he founded Circle Bolt and then Cordova Bolt Inc. 
Cordova was the 1990-91 president of the Western Association of Fastener Distributors.

Larry S. Berman, 74, chairperson emeritus of MNP Corporation, died November 22. He founded MNP in 1970. Berman had been a director of MNP’s parent company, Meridian National Corp., since 1996.

Richard William “Dick” Kerr, 88, chairman of fastener manufacturer Kerr Lakeside Inc. of Ohio, died October 8.
Kerr was in the second of three generations to lead Kerr Lakeside – founded in 1948 by Charles L. Kerr and now headed by president Charles L. Kerr II.

Michael Anthony Tyll, 58, president of the Engineered Fastening division of Stanley Black & Decker since 2010, died September 25.
He became president of the Black & Decker Corp. automotive division in 2001 and group vice president and president of Black & Decker’s fastening & assembly systems division in 2006.  

James Martin Layden, 93, died September 16.
In 1951, Layden went to work for Bolt Supply Co., which later became Bosco Fastening Service Center. He retired from Bosco as president in 1983.
In 1984, he joined Porteous Fastener Co. as Southwest regional manager. He spent 17 years in this position, finally retiring for good in March 2001 after 50 years in the fastener industry.
Layden had been a member of the Southwest Fastener Association, and had served on the board of the National Fastener Distributor Association. 

Cheryl Elaine Bott Bennett, 67, died August 31. She started in the stainless steel fastener business with Alaskan Copper & Brass and next worked for Coast Industrial Supply (Cisco). 
With Jerry Lind she established  Mt. Hood Fasteners in 1995. She first retired from the fastener industry in 2002. After moving to Boise in 2004, she went back to work for Mt. Hood Fasteners, working from her home until 2012.

James John “Jim” Partridge, 82, founder of Big Bolt Corporation in 1975, died August 5.  

Richard A. “Dick” Malson, 74, died July 10. 
At age 14 he was a blueprint boy in the engineering office at Lamson & Sessions and after graduating from Ohio University with degree in mechanical engineering he advanced to a vice president by age 29. 
In 1977, he founded Ramco Specialties Inc. from the back of a machine shop with an innovative new way to produce quality locknuts. 

Ralph Luhm, 78, started as a draftsman in the aircraft industry and became vice president of engineering for fastener manufacturer Allfast Fastening Systems Inc. – where he worked for nearly 40 years.

Christopher George “Chris” Cellary, 59, co-owner of Ford Fasteners, died May 26. He and brother Stephen Cellary were co-owners of the fastener manufacturing company founded by their father, George Cellary. He was a member of the Southeastern Fastener Association, Metropolitan Fastener Distributors and New England Fastener Distributor Association.

Geoffrey Dreger, 81, founder of Intools Group of Companies, died May 5. His fastener experience included 1952-1979 with P.L. Robertson in Ontario, vice president and director of research and development; 1980 to 2005, president and CEO of Intools. In 1971 he invented the Scrulox 8 Driver recess (Patent 3,972,083) and in 1991 the Quadrex Driver recess (Patent 5,020,954).

He had been president of the International Fastener Machinery & Suppliers Association.

Wallace E. “Terry” Wing III, 60, president of the Illinois-based rep agency Wing-Hamlin Co. Inc.  

Jack Jahntz, the first president of the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Association and one of 18 charter members, died at 85.  He started with Great Western Steel Company and joined Wisconsin-based L.W. Meyer & Son Inc. in the early 1960s. He retired in 1996 as partner, president and CEO.  

Preston Hebert, 65, co-founder with Stuart Bright of Diamond Bolt Company in 1987, died April 5. He had served on the Southwestern Fastener Association board. 

Douglas Grant “Doug” Riddell, 81, died March 12. He began his fastener career in Milton, Ontario, at P.L. Robertson. 
In 1958, he was offered a management opportunity in Jacksonville, FL.  His entrepreneurial spirit led him to establish several fastener and automotive safety equipment distribution companies in the U.S. and Canada, including Intertek Industrial Corp. in Jacksonville.   

Joseph Aloysius “Joe” Woolley, 94, died February 27. He was with Porteous Fastener Co. for many years.

Greg Westall, 59, died February 26. He spent 30 years in the fastener industry, primarily in the quality and engineering and most recently was quality engineer at Sey Tec.  He developed and hosted the first website for the Southwestern Fastener Association. 

Gerald Allan “Jerry” Miller, 67, co-founder in 1979 with the late Mel Soloway of Calgary Fasteners & Tools Ltd., died February 11.
Partners Ron Hall and Moe Gagnon joined the company early and together they built the Calgary Fasteners brand. Today the Fastener Group has locations from Thunder Bay, Ontario to the West Coast of Canada. 

John David “Bulldog” Bamonte, 60, died February 12. Bamonte co-owned Albritton-Groves, a stocking manufacturers’ sales agency selling industrial/construction fasteners.

Frank Edward “Duke” Diebold, 73, died January 29. He started his career as assistant golf pro, but due to a growing family he became a sales rep for Threaded Products. He went on to open D-Bolt Co. in an unheated church basement and grew it to a major Western Pennsylvania distributorship.

Jeffrey C. Higgins, 49, owner of Mid-Ohio Fastener & Supply Co., died January 16. 

For more on their lives, visit the Obituaries section on GlobalFastenerNews.com.
There are more than 300 obituaries of fastener people in the 1979-2014 Obituaries section.