All Obituary articles – Page 3

  • News briefs

    Jon Epstein, global chief commercial officer of Fila and president...

    2019-02-19T00:00:00Z

    Jon Epstein, global chief commercial officer of Fila and president of Fila North America, died on Friday, Feb. 15, at the age of 63. He had undergone heart surgery about a week before. Jennifer Estabrook, who joined Fila in 2005 and is now chief operating officer of Fila North America ...

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    Paul Golbert, the founder of Pajar Canada, passed away on...

    2019-01-28T00:00:00Z

    Paul Golbert, the founder of Pajar Canada, passed away on Dec. 25, at the age of 92. Pajar Canada, founded in 1963, is a five-generation family-owned footwear and outerwear company based in Montreal. Golbert was born in France in a shoemaking family, and emigrated to Canada in the 1950s, starting ...

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    Markus Huber has passed away

    2018-11-20T00:00:00Z

    Markus Huber, the kind and witty German journalist who helped us to launch The Outdoor Industry Compass ten years ago, died on Nov. 8 at a hospital in Nuremberg after a long and serious illness. He was only 47 years old. A memorial service will be held for him on ...

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    Hubert Schöffel, a pioneer of the outdoor industry, died at...

    2018-08-17T00:00:00Z

    Hubert Schöffel, a pioneer of the outdoor industry, died at the age of 88 on Aug. 8. He played a major role at the German family-owned producer of outdoor and ski clothing, which recently celebrated 50 years in the outdoor sector. Hubert Schöffel ran the family business for three decades. ...

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    Walter Fink, former owner of the German Fink Schuhe +...

    2018-05-04T00:00:00Z

    Walter Fink, former owner of the German Fink Schuhe + Sport retail chain of 60 shoe and sporting goods stores, passed away at the age of 87. Born in 1930, Fink joined his father's shoe retail store in 1960. He focused on the expansion of the company before he left ...

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    Spy has announced the passing of Seth Hamot, its former...

    2018-05-04T00:00:00Z

    Spy has announced the passing of Seth Hamot, its former chief executive. Hamot died on March 22, after a long battle against lymphoma. He served as chairman of Spy's board of directors and chief executive from 2015 until late 2017. In Nov. 2017, Fir Geenen, an active member of Spy's ...

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    Del Hayes, one of the earliest employees of Blue Ribbon...

    2018-01-27T00:00:00Z

    Del Hayes, one of the earliest employees of Blue Ribbon Sports and a Nike director for many years, passed away at the age of 82 earlier this month. Phil Knight met Hayes when he worked at Price Waterhouse after studying to become an accountant, and he was apparently in awe ...

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    Original Buff has announced the death of its founder, Joan...

    2018-01-15T00:00:00Z

    Original Buff has announced the death of its founder, Joan Rojas, after a determined fight against cancer. He was 72 years old. With his unconventional spirit, he invented a bandana in microfiber to protect himself from the wind and the cold while driving his motorcycle. He used his family's textile ...

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    Peter Dankaart, the founder and owner of Daka Sports and...

    2017-07-31T00:00:00Z

    Peter Dankaart, the founder and owner of Daka Sports and one of the most driven personalities in the Dutch retail market, has passed away aged 74. Dankaart established Daka Sports in 1965 in a basement in Rotterdam with his wife, Anke, and turned it into a prominent Dutch retail group. ...

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    His name is a catch cry in handball where it...

    2017-07-31T00:00:00Z

    His name is a catch cry in handball where it describes both a trick feint and a handball-specific sports brand, but he himself will hear it called out in stadiums no more. Bernhard Kempa, “Monsieur Handball” to some, died on July 20 at the age of 96. Kempa was a ...

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    Jack O'Neill, who popularized wetsuits and gave his name to...

    2017-06-26T00:00:00Z

    Jack O'Neill, who popularized wetsuits and gave his name to the O'Neill brand, has passed away at the age of 94 at his home in Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz. The surfing legend started his career as a draftsman, taxi driver and fire extinguisher salesman in San Francisco, while famously tinkering ...

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    Hervé Maneint, senior product manager at the Scott Sports Group...

    2017-05-18T00:00:00Z

    Hervé Maneint, senior product manager at the Scott Sports Group for skis and ski boots, died a few days ago at the age of 56 in the area of Chamonix, hit by a falling rock while on a ski tour in the company of three other people, including two mountain ...

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    Sônia Bogner, wife of Willy Bogner, passed away on May...

    2017-05-18T00:00:00Z

    Sônia Bogner, wife of Willy Bogner, passed away on May 3 at the age of 66, after a long illness. Willy Bogner was married to Sônia for 44 years. Sônia, who was born in Rio de Janeiro, started to work for Bogner as a model in 1972, and she married ...

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    Royal Robbins, the famous American mountain climber who founded the...

    2017-04-21T00:00:00Z

    Royal Robbins, the famous American mountain climber who founded the outdoor clothing firm that bears his name together with his wife Liz in 1968, passed away last month at the age of 82, after a long illness. In the first climb of its kind in the U.S., the couple went ...

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    The founder of Yumas, Andrés Navarro Soler, passed away on...

    2017-03-31T00:00:00Z

    The founder of Yumas, Andrés Navarro Soler, passed away on March 17 at the age of 77. Soler founded the brand of sports shoes in the 1970s. Yumas is based in Elche, near the Spanish town of Alicante.

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    Karin Kettler, daughter of Heinz Kettler, the late founder and...

    2017-03-14T00:00:00Z

    Karin Kettler, daughter of Heinz Kettler, the late founder and owner of the eponymous German sports and leisure equipment company, died earlier this month from injuries sustained in a car accident. She was 57 years old. She was a biologist who took the helm at Kettler in 2005, shortly before ...

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    Jean Vuarnet, the French ski champion who gave his name...

    2017-01-26T00:00:00Z

    Jean Vuarnet, the French ski champion who gave his name to the winter sports and eyewear brand, passed away early this year in Sallanches, at the age of 83. He won a gold medal in downhill skiing at the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley in 1960 and became famous for ...

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    Gilbert “Gib” Ford, former chairman and chief executive of Converse,...

    2017-01-26T00:00:00Z

    Gilbert “Gib” Ford, former chairman and chief executive of Converse, died from pulmonary fibrosis on Jan. 10. He was 85. He spent 35 years with Converse until 1996, the last ten running the company, which subsequently went bankrupt in 2002. Before joining the brand, he had an illustrious career as ...

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    Matthias Bärtels, who had been serving as one of the...

    2016-12-26T00:00:00Z

    Matthias Bärtels, who had been serving as one of the two managing directors for the Intersport Voswinkel chain in Germany since 2012, has died at the age of 53. Responsible for purchasing, sales, marketing and merchandising, he led a refitting program at Voswinkel and introduced a CRM system. Soon after ...

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    The funeral was held in Asolo on Friday for Luigi...

    2016-12-26T00:00:00Z

    The funeral was held in Asolo on Friday for Luigi Parisotto, an Italian shoemaker who was closely connected with the history of the Italian ski and mountain boot manufacturing industry. He passed away on Dec. 20 at the age of 86. Luigi Parisotto started to work at the age of ...