April 11, 2005 - BATAVIA, IL
Memory of Depression led boss
to provide security for employees
By Joan Giangrasse Kates
Special to the Tribune
As a child Charles George
Whinfrey Jr. felt the impact of
the Depression when his family
lost everything.
"The Depression and all the
hard times that followed really
rocked his family's world and
kind of stole a piece of his childhood,"
said his son Peter.
Years later and after a successful
career in the chemical
industry that led to the founding
of his own business, Mr.
Whinfrey looked for ways to increase
the financial security of
his workers by offering employee
benefits such as a profit-sharing
plan, family members said.
"I'm not sure what's more
amazing, that he had the fore
sight to create such a generous
employee plan way back in the
1960s or that the plan still exists
today" said his son.
Mr. Whinfrey 82, of Geneva,
previously of Aurora, died
Tuesday March 29, in Delnor-
Community Hospital after a
long battle with emphysema.
Born in Cleveland, Mr. Whinfrey
spent his childhood in New
Jersey. He attended Rutgers
University for two years before
enlisting in the Navy in 1944.
For 16 months, he served as captain of the minesweeper USS
Reedbird, attaining the rank of lieutenant while serving of the
coast of Pearl Harbor and in the
Panama Canal.
"Being in charge of a mine
sweeper was intense, pressure
packed duty but he thought it
was easy compared to those in
battle," said his son.
After his military discharge,
Mr. Whinfrey enrolled at Cornell
University in Ithaca, N.Y.,
where he received a bachelor's
degree in science and agriculture.
In 1946 he married the former
Mary Kirk, his college
sweetheart and wife of 59 years.
Mr. Whinfrey began his career
in the chemical industry in
the sales division of PennSalt
Co. in Philadelphia. He was
transfered to the company's office
in Aurora in 1955, where he
worked for several years before
becoming a sales manager for
Great Lakes Solvent in Chicago.
"He had a strong work ethic
and tremendous confidence in
his own abilities," said his son. "After a while he began to realize that there was
a need for the
kind of company he worked for
right in his own back yard."
In 1963 Mr. Whinfrey founded
Producers Chemical Co., a
chemical distribution company
in Batavia. He ran the company
for 23 years before turning over
the reins to other family members
after his retirement in 1986.
"He was a one-man operation
in the beginning," said Peter
Whinfrey who now heads Environmental
Solutions International
in Batavia, a subsidiary
of Producers Chemical Co.
"He'd wear a suit and make
sales calls in the morning and
then change into his work
clothes and load up trucks to
make deliveries in the afternoon.
In addition to his wife and
son, Mr. Whinfrey is survived
by another son, Donald; a
daughter Jane Harris; a brother,
David; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service will begin
at 10:30 a.m. Friday in St. David's
Episcopal Church, 701N.
Randall Rd. Aurora. |
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