In Memorium; Forum friends who have passed on

Sorry to hear the news. Howie was always so polite in his answers or responses the few times we interacted.

Condolences to family and friends.

Codger any thoughts on a memorial thread to those who have passed? Several other forums I'm on have them.
 
I just heard today of Doug Webber's passing. Doug and I got acquainted via our collecting of Aurum etched knives. We bought and sold knives to one another as well as did some trading. Doug had been ill for some time but recently got a new doctor and was positive about his prospects. Doug will be missed, we never met face to face (planned on meeting up at next years Blade Show) but through our phone conversations and emails I found him to be a solid guy and through my knife dealings with Doug, I found him to be honest and trustworthy. They don't get much better in the knife world than Doug. God Bless.
 
I can hardly believe this news. Rich and I emailed at least every week and we talked a few times on the phone. Lots of laughs together and we kept each other in the know regarding knives for sale. He probably had more Herman Williams knives than anyone else unless maybe Doug Webber. He had just retired. If anyone can give me contact information for his brother I would very much appreciate that.
 
Copied from a collector friend just now:

It saddens me to share with you that Herman Williams passed away this morning.
The Schrade community' as well as the knife community, has lost a legend this day.
Herman was 83, with his 84th birthday just a week away.

RIP Herman Williams. You will be missed.
 
RIP Herman Williams. He sure stayed Schrade-focused and never deviated from that path. His "creations" are so very attractive.

I stopped reading these forums for a while and was unaware that he had passed until today. With the loss of Herman, and also Harold Buley, some major Schrade cutlery talent has been lost in the past year. I will sorely miss new electra225 listings on ebay! You never knew what he was going to list next but you knew it would be fantastic.

Just yesterday, I bought a 80th Anniversary knife bearing Herman's signature spade-design filework. He had skills, in spades!

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During a discussion with a forum friend and cutler, it has come to my attention that former Schrade President Walter Gardiner passed away a couple of years ago. I'll update this post with more information when I have it.

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A graduate of University Of Florida, Wally Gardiner began his employment with Schrade in 1977 at age 35 as sales manager for the New York metro area then promoted to product manager of pocket and sporting knives. He was appointed general sales manager in 1983.

In 1983, Albert M. Baer took the company private by purchasing all outstanding stock in the company. The company changed names in 1985 to Imperial Schrade Corp. and Walter Gardiner was named President and COO in September of 1986, promoted from vice-president. He was elected to replace former president Marty Zorn who had recently died. All U.S. operations were combined under one roof in Ellenville, the vacant Channel Master antenna factory.

At that time the company had approximately 2,000 employees and annual revenues of about 100 million. Operations were located in Ellenville, NY., Providence, RI., Listowel, Ireland, Solingen, Germany, and Thiers, France.

Gardiner remained company president after the passing of both of the Baer brothers and the ownership passed to Albert's wife Karla Baer. Gardiner remained president until the company's forced dissolution in July of 2004. He then started a new cutlery with former Schrade employees in the old Schrade Walden building, Canal Street Cutlery.
 
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