Paying Tribute to the Legends

Hardly a week goes by that I don't get an item on my Google news feed on finishing that someone from the industry has passed away.

It's inevitable, of course, but it still reinforces the idea that the finishing and coating industry is a greying market, with many owners and principals at these shops growing older.

Yes, it's inevitable, but it's never easy to read about. That was the case recently when I read about the passing of George Giering III, the owner of Giering Metal Finishing in Connecticut.

Photo above: George Giering III, at right, and his son, George F. Giering Jr., at a company picnic.

I had never met George in person, but many years back, he sent me a note about an article I had written and told me how much it helped him with his problem. When I called him on the phone to thank him, he was a tad bit taken aback that I would ring him up, but I wanted to tell him how much I appreciated his note, and we talked for a while. 

I even wrote a column about our conversation, "It’s All for Guys like George," to express how much I enjoyed covering the industry. He was a wonderful guy to talk to and told great stories about his days in the industry, including how, as a teenager, he started working in his dad's shop.

I reviewed my notes to read and recall what he told me.

“When I went home, I’d be covered in solvent-borne paint, and I’d have to put newspaper down in the front seat of my car, or else I would stick to the seats,” he told me.

I completely enjoyed my 30-minute conversation with him and regret that I never called him again to chat, something I find myself doing less of these days even though it is one of the joys of the job,

“I’ve had a great career, and I’ve enjoyed what I have been doing,” he told me that day in 2019. Indeed he did, and may he rest in peace.

It was a different situation when I read that Ronald Morrissey, Ph.D., a prolific researcher and scientist in the surface finishing industry, passed away in January at age 89.

I had never met Dr. Morrissey or read anything about him. He was well before my time, and our paths never crossed, but reading his obituary—about the research he had published and the patents he owned—made me sad to think I had never heard his name before associated with surface finishing.

I noted Dr. Morrissey's passing, and in our February edition, I ran a research paper he wrote while at Technic. A few days later, I received a note from his son.

"I just wanted to send you a note. Thank you so much for sharing my father's obituary," says James Morrissey. "I think it would have meant a lot to him.  He was a very remarkable man."

It made me think why it is even more important to capture the words and wisdom of others in the finishing industry before they leave us. This is why I so enjoy doing the "Legends" video interviews I have been doing for the past year or so. I've done about 12, but each one allows me to speak to someone who has been in the business for 30 to 40 years and record their thoughts.

It's not to say that each of them is imminently leaving this world, but it does give me a chance to document their journey in this industry.

I am always looking for others with a distinguished career that I can document. I never met George Giering or Dr. Morrissey, but I am on the path to correcting that with others.