PUBLISHER'S VIEWPOINT
April 2006
Characters of Honor

Two very large figures in the foodservice equipment business left us in early February: Keith Carpenter and Ray Fisher Sr. I say large, because both were, in different ways, larger than life. And both had a big impact on this business, their families and their wider communities.

Coincidentally, both were born in California, Keith in Bakersfield, Ray in Walnut Park. Keith had the more colorful career, and he could sell anything. Ray was not a flamboyant man, but smart, tough, very hard working and willing to take a risk. And he could sell stuff too. Both were very nice to me.

Keith’s first career was football. And he was plenty big enough to play it. He was an honorable mention All-American at San Jose State, played a year for the San Francisco 49ers and five years in the Canadian football league in Toronto and Winnipeg. He then sold cars. But he soon moved to the foodservice equipment business and for the next 40 years, at Vulcan-Hart, Foster, Traulsen, Hodges, Frymaster and Welbilt, he sold stuff.

"With Keith and Ray gone, there are big voids to fill."

He also founded two rep firms, and after he retired, went back to work with his son Keith’s company, Wood Stone Corp., as head of, what else, sales and marketing. He and his wife Sallye were married 57 years and, man, does she have some stories.

As he would be the first to tell you, he also drank, at least until he joined Alcoholics Anonymous in 1967. I was fortunate enough to attend a memorial service for him in Brentwood, Calif., Feb. 26. The stories of the many men and women with whom he shared his life in 38 years in AA gave me shivers. What capacity for redemption and love there can be in the world. When we were winding down, one of the speakers said with Keith gone, there was a loss of love in the world. And it was our job to fill the void. It’ll be hard. 

What I always liked about Ray was his straight-forwardness, his belief in marketing what many others would consider a commodity, and his ability to control his environment. He, with the help of his friend Jim Strahan, built Fisher, a company his father Ralph a founded, into a leading national brand in foodservice. I’d see him at NAFEM and MAFSI meetings, and at shows, but most of the time, he worked.

And when the time came to expand the plant, he moved from Vernon way out to the Central Valley to a little town called Tulare. He like the small town environment and work ethic. But he kept his larger world view, too. And when it came time, he passed the torch. His son Ray Jr. has run the business since 2001, while Ray Sr. spent time on community and political concerns in Tulare.

One thing that makes the foodservice business so great is its people, and the love among us. With Keith and Ray gone, as the man said at Keith’s service, there are big voids to fill.

Cheers,

Robin Ashton
Publisher