Gerber
Plumbing Fixtures Chairman Ila Lewis has
retired after more than 27 years, leaving the business without direct-family
involvement for the first time in its 76-year history.
Lewis
joined the company in 1981, working mostly in marketing positions. After the
death of her mother, Harriet Gerber Lewis,
Lewis assumed control of the company in 2001, the third generation to run the
firm after its founder ― her grandfather, Max
Gerber ― left the business to her mother and uncle.
Lewis
led Gerber through many advances and is well-known in the plumbing industry. In
2003 she was honored with the Golden Eagle award from AIM/R
for her outstanding contributions to the industry and support of professional
independent manufacturers representatives.
"These have
been exciting, challenging and rewarding years," Lewis wrote in a
retirement announcement letter to the company's staff. "Gerber will
continue to be known as a company where people are its foundation, its glue and
the unparalleled substance that truly sets it apart."
