All Obituary articles – Page 6
-
News briefs
Bob Meistrell, who co-founded Body Glove together with his twin...
Bob Meistrell, who co-founded Body Glove together with his twin brother Bill in 1953, died last June 16 of an apparent heart attack in his yacht Diappearance, near Catalina Island in California, following a paddleboard race. He was 84 years old. He and Bill, who died in 2006, moved to ...
-
News briefs
Guy Cotten, the French businessman known for creating the yellow...
Guy Cotten, the French businessman known for creating the yellow oilskin jacket worn by fishermen worldwide, died on April 3 at the age of 77 in a hospital in Quimper, in the north-west of France. Cotten built a world-renowned brand of outdoor wear for the fishing industry and yachting enthusiasts in ...
-
News briefs
Coen Dekker, the founder of Protest, the Dutch board sports...
Coen Dekker, the founder of Protest, the Dutch board sports brand, passed away on his 82nd birthday. Dekker Hout Groep, the Dekker family's business is based on the timber trade but Coen Dekker diversified into other activities, such as racquet sports and bowling centers. In 1981 he established Dekker Olifanta ...
-
News briefs
Joe Weider died on March 22 of heart failure in...
Joe Weider died on March 22 of heart failure in a Los Angeles hospital, aged 93. During his long career as a fitness coach, he coached the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former actor and governor of California, who called him the godfather of fitness. Weider built up a multi-billion-dollar ...
-
News briefs
One of the pioneers of the German retail landscape, Otto...
One of the pioneers of the German retail landscape, Otto Beisheim, is dead. On Feb. 18, he took his own life at his home at a lake in Bavaria, faced with an incurable disease. He was 89. Beisheim was one of the co-founders of Metro, Europe's leading cash & carry ...
-
News briefs
Professor Anselm Vogel has passed away. He was 83. Vogel...
Professor Anselm Vogel has passed away. He was 83. Vogel is considered to be the scientific pioneer in research on the impact of skiing on the human body. His fundamental research showed the interaction between the knee, the shinbone, the boot and the ski. The practical result of his work ...
-
News briefs
Last Christmas Eve, one of the most iconic and controversial...
Last Christmas Eve, one of the most iconic and controversial personalities of the German sporting goods retail landscape, passed away. Gerd Bittl senior died of cancer at the age of 74. Reportedly, the Munich-based sporting goods store chain and mail-order company that bears his name will remain family property, although local newspapers ...
-
News briefs
Yoshikazu Ishimoto, former president of Descente, died last Dec. 12,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 -...
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 ...
