All Obituary articles – Page 6

  • News briefs

    Yoshikazu Ishimoto, former president of Descente, died last Dec. 12,...

    2013-01-09T00:00:00Z

    Yoshikazu Ishimoto, former president of Descente, died last Dec. 12, aged 77. He was the son of the Japanese company's founder, Takeo Ishimoto, and worked for the company for 52 years. Father and son were among the first to recognize the importance of testing and research to optimize the features ...

  • News briefs

    Greg Hind, the American businessman and philanthropist who created the...

    2012-11-12T00:00:00Z

    Greg Hind, the American businessman and philanthropist who created the Hind brand of running apparel, died a few days ago at the age of 66. A former water polo champion, he sold the brand in 1997, but after spending two years with his young family in France, he eventually re-entered ...

  • News briefs

    Groupe Rossignol reports the death of Emile Allais, a visionary...

    2012-10-29T00:00:00Z

    Groupe Rossignol reports the death of Emile Allais, a visionary ski champion who turned 100 years old last February. In 1936, when skiing became an Olympic sport, the Frenchman became the first athlete sponsored by Rossignol. In the next year, he became world champion in three categories. In his collaboration ...

  • News briefs

    Tom Sims, who was described as the inventor of the...

    2012-09-19T00:00:00Z

    Tom Sims, who was described as the inventor of the contemporary snowboard in 1963, has died from sudden cardiac arrest in Santa Barbara at the age of 61. He established Sims Snowboards in 1976 and continued to improve his products in the last four decades, with introductions ranging from the ...

  • News briefs

    After a long illness, Odd Roar Lofterød, the son of...

    2012-09-19T00:00:00Z

    After a long illness, Odd Roar Lofterød, the son of Odlo's founder, passed away last week in Norway, his home country. He was 65 years old. Lofterød took over Odlo from his father in 1979 and built the international business of the brand, specialized in base layers, with particular flair ...

  • News briefs

    At the age of 86, Tosaku Nishida, the founder of...

    2012-09-19T00:00:00Z

    At the age of 86, Tosaku Nishida, the founder of Goldwin Inc. of Japan, died on Sept. 1. Nishida started his career in 1951 by establishing a knitting factory. He moved on to found Goldwin, which became one of the most important market players for sporting goods in Japan. A milestone ...

  • News briefs

    Ronald Page, a footwear industry veteran, died on Sept. 6...

    2012-09-19T00:00:00Z

    Ronald Page, a footwear industry veteran, died on Sept. 6 at the age of 75. He worked for Polo Ralph Lauren, Ellesse and Nike before he joined Deckers Outdoor Corporation in the early 1990s as the vice president for sales at Teva. He oversaw the brand's biggest growth years, and ...

  • News briefs

    William Staub, the man credited with inventing the treadmill for...

    2012-07-30T00:00:00Z

    William Staub, the man credited with inventing the treadmill for home use, has passed away. He was 96 years old, but he had been on a treadmill only two months ago. The American mechanical engineer had an aerospace company; he founded a company, Aerobics Inc., in 1968 to make his ...

  • News briefs

    Klaus Lenhart was definitely a product-driven man with a passion...

    2012-05-08T00:00:00Z

    Klaus Lenhart was definitely a product-driven man with a passion to his gear. To improve the poles again and again was his mission, but he was also visionary: He did not believe just in constructing great poles. He saw the hand, the glove and the pole as a functional ...

  • News briefs

    Bob Smith, the founder of Smith Optics who invented the...

    2012-05-08T00:00:00Z

    Bob Smith, the founder of Smith Optics who invented the modern double-lens ski goggle, died last month at the age of 78. He developed the goggle in the 1960s because as an avid skier, he was constantly frustrated with fogged-up goggles. Today, Smith Optics is the No. 1 ski goggle ...

  • News briefs

    The “King of Poles” had another passion - aviation. With...

    2012-05-08T00:00:00Z

    The “King of Poles” had another passion - aviation. With his small red aircraft, Lenhart won various titles in artistic flying, including the German championships. On April 30, he headed off for his last flight. Apparently, he was training a young pilot. The aircraft crashed nearby the runway at his ...

  • News briefs

    A few years ago, Klaus Lenhart, the owner and...

    2012-05-08T00:00:00Z

    A few years ago, Klaus Lenhart, the owner and managing director of Leki, called Markus Huber, editor of our Outdoor Industry Compass. He approached him because he needed an idea for a press presentation. He sensed that “we need something more than just a showcase of our new products.” Markus ...

  • News briefs

    Klaus Lenhart died one day before his 57th birthday -...

    2012-05-08T00:00:00Z

    Klaus Lenhart died one day before his 57th birthday - leaving behind his family, some 250 employees and an industry that has been impressed by his visions, passions and missions. Despite the tragic death of its leader, Leki is in good hands. The company is run by longtime employees such ...

  • News briefs

    On March 10, Bernward van Hees passed away at the...

    2012-03-27T00:00:00Z

    On March 10, Bernward van Hees passed away at the age of 99. He was very much in the camping business as sales director of a German company, August Ender, since the end of the Second World War. Van Hees served for a long time as a member of the ...

  • Short stops

    Italy's Top Sport magazine reports the death of Aldo Milanesio,...

    2012-02-28T00:00:00Z

    Italy's Top Sport magazine reports the death of Aldo Milanesio, founder of the eponymous Italian sporting goods chain sold to Cisalfa Sport in the year 2000

  • News briefs

    Leonardo Servadio, the founder of Ellesse, died last month at...

    2012-02-03T00:00:00Z

    Leonardo Servadio, the founder of Ellesse, died last month at the age of 87. He founded the Italian company as a maker of pants, but it evolved into a sportswear company as Servadio worked to innovate and improve the fabrics and technology. He sold Ellesse to Pentland Group in 1993.

  • News briefs

    The Otto Group has announced the death of Werner Otto,...

    2012-01-06T00:00:00Z

    The Otto Group has announced the death of Werner Otto, the visionary German businessman who founded the world's largest mail-order company in 1949. He died on Dec. 21 at the age of 102. The son of a merchant, he set up the former Otto Versand with capital of 6,000 German ...

  • News briefs

    Ted Forstmann, chairman and chief executive of IMG, died from...

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    Ted Forstmann, chairman and chief executive of IMG, died from brain cancer on Nov. 20 at the age of 71. Forstmann bought IMG in 2004 and restructured the business to become even more of a giant in global sport, entertainment and media.

  • News briefs

    Irving H. Franklin, who designed the first batting glove made...

    2011-12-01T00:00:00Z

    Irving H. Franklin, who designed the first batting glove made specifically for Major League Baseball players, which is still used today, died in his sleep at the age of 93. He founded Franklin Sports with his brother Sydney in 1946. His son, Larry J. Franklin, runs the diversified company and ...

  • News briefs

    James Van Doren, the co-founder of Vans, passed away at...

    2011-11-08T00:00:00Z

    James Van Doren, the co-founder of Vans, passed away at the age of 72. Van Doren established the Van Doren Rubber Company with his older brother Paul in 1966 in Anaheim, California, and Vans footwear quickly became all the rage with a fast-growing crowd of skateboarders. James van Doren ran ...