OBITUARIES -- May 2006

Charles H. 'Chuck' Carlson, President/CEO, Industrial Piping; and Willard 'Bill' Allen Speakman III, Chairman, Speakman Co.

Charles H. 'Chuck' Carlson
President/CEO, Industrial Piping

Charles H. “Chuck” Carlson, 66, president and CEO of Industrial Piping (Marquette, Mich.) and past-president of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, died unexpectedly March 27 at Naples Community Hospital in Naples, Fla.

Carlson opened the office of Industrial Piping in Marquette in 1965, where he served as president and CEO for 30 years. Active in his industry, he served as president of the Mechanical Contractors of Michigan, was national president of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (1987) and was a professional trustee of the U.P. Plumbers and Pipefitters Fringe Benefit Funds. After retirement, Carlson was co-chairman of its national pension fund.

He is survived by his wife, Georgia (Racine) Carlson of Marquette; five children; seven grandchildren; his mother-in-law; his sister-in-law; his brother-in-law; and two cousins. The family requests in lieu of flowers that memorials be directed to the First Presbyterian Church in Marquette or the American Cancer Society.

Willard 'Bill' Allen Speakman III
Chairman, Speakman Co.

Willard “Bill” Allen Speakman III, 67, chairman of the Speakman Co., died April 11 in Antigua, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Speakman is the great-grandson of Allen Speakman, founder of the Speakman Co. He began his career there in 1962. He succeeded his father, Willard Allen Speakman Jr., as president of the company in 1971 and became chairman in 1978. He had a life-long commitment to education and learning and served on many boards to promote education, reading and literacy.

He is survived by his wife, Stephanie du Pont Bredin Speakman; his daughter; his granddaughter; his sister; three nieces; his stepson; and his stepdaughter.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made in his name to the University of Delaware Library Associates, the Mill Reef Fund, or the Nantucket Atheneum.