von Drehle Names Holland Director of Sales
David Holland has been named director of sales for the von Drehle Corp. He has 18 years of experience in the towel/tissue industry. He will be working with the industrial sales force to maximize effectiveness and develop new business.
Obituaries
Cooper was a Restroom Manufacturing Titan
Ed Cooper, president and owner of restroom manufacturing company PolyJohn Enterprises Corp., died Oct. 29 following a long illness. He was 68.
The Chicago-area native was in the trash and portable restroom service business with Service Waste and Service Sanitation companies when he and two partners, George Hiskes and George Harding, bought a small restroom manufacturing company. In an ownership reorganization, Cooper became the sole owner of PolyJohn and registered the Whiting, Ind.-based company in 1988, according to Lorraine Hanson, PolyJohn’s international sales coordinator.
Cooper’s company grew quickly; the Whiting plant now encompasses 120,000 square feet of building space on seven acres. The company went global as PolyJohn International, which Cooper started with partner Vernon Hills, and includes manufacturing facilities Rama Plastics in Canada, PolyJohn South America in Brazil and a facility to open next month in India. The company has a sales office in England.
In all, PolyJohn has about 250 employees and has sold restrooms in 35 countries, according to Hanson.
The first person Cooper hired for PolyJohn 24 years ago, Hanson remembers her boss as a savvy and strong business leader and a generous person.
“He was a very smart businessman and he had quite a vision for the company,’’ Hanson said. “He knew these products needed to go to other countries, not just the U.S. and Canada, and that’s when he decided to go after it and hit it hard.’’
Cooper set a high standard in the way he treated employees, and often quietly helped them in times of need, Hanson said. Proof of a positive work environment is that many employees have a long tenure, she said.
“He would do anything in the world for his employees. He expected you to do your job, but you were well rewarded.’’ Hanson said Cooper’s passion outside of the business was fishing.
About six months ago, Cooper’s two sons assumed new duties in the privately held company, according to Hanson. Mike Cooper is president and Ken Cooper is vice president.
In October, the Portable Sanitation Association International honored Ed Cooper with the annual M.Z. Andy Gump Award for lifetime achievement in the industry. Mike Cooper accepted the award for his father at the annual PSAI conference in Tacoma, Wash.
Cooper is survived by his wife, Sandra, three children and eight grandchildren.
Cutler was a Portable Sanitation Pioneer
Fred Cutler III, who operated a Reno, Nev., restroom service business for nearly 50 years and helped establish the Portable Sanitation Association International, died Oct. 27. He was 81.
In 1958, after operating several service stations in Reno, Cutler and a partner bought restroom company Sani-Hut. Cutler was considered an industry innovator who played an important role in crafting industry regulations in Nevada and in founding the PSAI in 1971, according to Millicent Carroll of PSAI.
“He was a lovable, crusty gentleman. He was no-nonsense and had no problems looking you straight in the eye and telling you exactly what he thought,’’ Carroll said. “He was one of a handful of portable restroom operators who got together and said, ‘We need to create an organization where we have a voice.’ He started a humanitarian push years ago. He never pushed just for his company’s benefit, but for the populace. He thought portable sanitation was essential.’’
Cutler served on the PSAI board of directors and sat on a variety of committees for many years, according to Carroll.
Fred Cutler IV is current owner of Sani-Hut.
Cutler III was a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and served a variety of community organizations in Reno. He was active in fraternal organizations and maintained an extensive collection of Masonic memorabilia. He was preceded in death by his wife, Harriet, and is survived by two children and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
