Born on the 4th of July
People have a lot of memories of family vacations, parties, fireworks displays, and just plain good times from the 4th of July. Well the first thing I think about when I think about the 4th is my grandfather, Charles Vincent Myers, who passed away on July 4th, 1992. I know that sounds sad, and it is, but it actually brings me quite a bit of joy because his life has always been a great inspiration to me. And since this is my blog, I feel like telling the world about it. He basically lived the american dream. He gradutated with a degree in ceramic engineering from Ohio State University while serving as a ROTC officer and a part time waiter to earn his dinner. He started in 1940 as a laboratory assistant with the Eljer plumbingware Co. in Ford City, Pennsylvania. I'll just give you the timeline from there.
1942- Promoted to Head of Laboratory
1944- Promoted to Production Technical Supervisor
1946- Promoted to Superintendent of the Ford City Plant
1953- Promoted to Plant manager of the Vitreous China Division. This included the Eljer Plant in Ford City, and a plant in Salem Ohio.
1956- Eljer Plumbingware was sold to the Murray Corporation of America. He was promoted to Manufacturing manager of Eljer Factory Operations. He was transferred to Pittsburgh to oversee three plants.
1960- Promoted to Vice-President of the Murray Corporation of America. This added three more plants for him to oversee.
1965- The Murray Corporation merged with the William Wallace Corporation to form the Wallace Murray Corporation of America. He was elected Vice President-General Manager of the Eljer Plumbingware Division.
1968- Elected as a Group Vice President of the Wallace Murray Corporation and transferred to New York City. He was now in charge of Eljer Plumbingware as well as all the other Wallce Murray Divisions.
1970- Wallace Murray was reorganized. He was now in charge of Eljer, William Wallace, Lawton, Dry Manufacturing, Simonds Steel, Illinois Gear, Selkirk-Metalbestos, and Simonds Canada Saw Ltd.
1972- He was elected Executive Vice-President of the Wallace Murray Corporation.
1973- He was elected President and Chief Executive Officer of the Wallace Murray Corporation of America. He was now in charge of a Fortune 500 Company with over $260 million in sales in the United States, Canada, and several other countries with 10,000 employees. News of his promotion was published in several publications including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and later, Forbes.
1981- Retired as President, and served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. He served in this position until his retirement the following year.
I'm sure all those accomplishments speak very well to his character. But the thing that makes it all the more amazing to me is that in the 9 years that I knew him, I never knew anything about all that. Maybe it's because I was 9 when he died, how much could I really know. But when he was around, he wasn't some stiff faced, stern, all business guy who didn't care at all for anything or anyone but his work. I remember being so excited when he and grandma would come to visit, because he had the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met, and I've met a lot nice people in my life. There have been many times in my life where I think, "What would Bappy say if he saw me doing this." I am so blessed to have such a great family, with amazing men, men of God, who modeled what a good life really is. I love my grandpa, and I credit so much of who I am today and who I will be for the rest of my life to who he was, what he taught me, and the legacy he left behind.
Charles Vincent Myers "Bappy"
August 8, 1916 - July 4th, 1992
1942- Promoted to Head of Laboratory
1944- Promoted to Production Technical Supervisor
1946- Promoted to Superintendent of the Ford City Plant
1953- Promoted to Plant manager of the Vitreous China Division. This included the Eljer Plant in Ford City, and a plant in Salem Ohio.
1956- Eljer Plumbingware was sold to the Murray Corporation of America. He was promoted to Manufacturing manager of Eljer Factory Operations. He was transferred to Pittsburgh to oversee three plants.
1960- Promoted to Vice-President of the Murray Corporation of America. This added three more plants for him to oversee.
1965- The Murray Corporation merged with the William Wallace Corporation to form the Wallace Murray Corporation of America. He was elected Vice President-General Manager of the Eljer Plumbingware Division.
1968- Elected as a Group Vice President of the Wallace Murray Corporation and transferred to New York City. He was now in charge of Eljer Plumbingware as well as all the other Wallce Murray Divisions.
1970- Wallace Murray was reorganized. He was now in charge of Eljer, William Wallace, Lawton, Dry Manufacturing, Simonds Steel, Illinois Gear, Selkirk-Metalbestos, and Simonds Canada Saw Ltd.
1972- He was elected Executive Vice-President of the Wallace Murray Corporation.
1973- He was elected President and Chief Executive Officer of the Wallace Murray Corporation of America. He was now in charge of a Fortune 500 Company with over $260 million in sales in the United States, Canada, and several other countries with 10,000 employees. News of his promotion was published in several publications including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and later, Forbes.
1981- Retired as President, and served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. He served in this position until his retirement the following year.
I'm sure all those accomplishments speak very well to his character. But the thing that makes it all the more amazing to me is that in the 9 years that I knew him, I never knew anything about all that. Maybe it's because I was 9 when he died, how much could I really know. But when he was around, he wasn't some stiff faced, stern, all business guy who didn't care at all for anything or anyone but his work. I remember being so excited when he and grandma would come to visit, because he had the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met, and I've met a lot nice people in my life. There have been many times in my life where I think, "What would Bappy say if he saw me doing this." I am so blessed to have such a great family, with amazing men, men of God, who modeled what a good life really is. I love my grandpa, and I credit so much of who I am today and who I will be for the rest of my life to who he was, what he taught me, and the legacy he left behind.
Charles Vincent Myers "Bappy"
August 8, 1916 - July 4th, 1992
posted by Jeff Myers at 4:44 PM
3 Comments:
Very touching Jeff. We are going to try and copy this so Grammy can read it. Rob did get her an email account, but it's only used when one of us is there.
What an awesome post. Its great that you have such wonderful memories! What a terrific grandson you are!
I obviously never knew your grandpa but It sounds like you a lot of him in you. I think he would be pretty darn proud of you. He would probably tell you, "You're pretty much awesome little Jeffrey!"
Sidenote: Purgatory just got worse. Our theory about the jerk was right. Way to be a genius Jeff!
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