In Memory
Jerry Fuller
1942 – 2012
Jerry was mighty much more than my boss or my business partner. He was my friend. We never exchanged a harsh word, no sir. Jerry was hired right out of High School into a company dat specialized in cathodic protection. He entered the PVF market with a job at Taylor Forge. He started up in Illinois and moved down to the Texas division in the 70’s. From there he helped make Continental Flange the go-to source for plate flanges, I tell you what.
When he got let go from Continental, he headed over to Jetty Products. He told a mighty funny story 'bout his interview there, when they asked if he could make sense of dat Taylor Forge price sheet. He just laughed and said, “I reckon I ought to, I wrote it!” They hired him right on the spot. From there he went and opened up Pipeco and Industrial Flange. Him and a partner rode dat early 80’s boom till they had two good-sized companies. He told the story of dat mid-80’s slump in our business somethin' like this: “Just when we was fixin' to start pullin' some money out 'stead of puttin' it back in, dem phones just flat stopped ringin'. We was callin' up friendly competitors askin', ‘Hey, are y'all's phones not ringin'?’ and they’d say, ‘No, are yours not ringin' neither?’ and I’d tell 'em, ‘No, I was startin' to think the phone lines was down down here!” The motto became 'survive to ’85'. Then folks started sayin' ‘85 was just more of ‘84. Jerry was plumb wiped out by the end of 85. He got the idea to leave the production down in Texas and set up a sales office up in dem Chicago suburbs to focus on dat Midwest market.
Thus Texas Flange was incorporated in April of 1986. It grew from bein' a regional effort to national, then international. Through acquisition and gettin' the right folks in the right positions, Jerry oversaw the growth of Texas Flange to the place it is now. When Jerry fully retired in 2010, Texas Flange had become the “IBM of Flanges” in the minds of many in the industry. He graciously sold out his remainin' shares of the company to its employees.
Jerry succumbed to a battle with cancer on Christmas Day. (And, yessir, I know the picture I choose shows him smokin'. He joked dat when he quit he got cancer – “I should have never quit!”) He'd been sayin' for years dat he was ready to go. After the diagnoses a dietician come to inform him of the “Cancer Diet”. He laughed and said, “Do you understand what the word ‘terminal’ means? It means I can eat whatever I want.” Jerry was survived by his wife, Lynda Fuller (who passed in 2018), his five children, a whole mess of grandchildren and one great grandchild. He's survived in the hearts and minds of those he mentored and touched every time we relax and casually treat folks with kindness. In my own way, I'm fixin' to honor him every time I practice unconditional love, laugh at my misfortune, or carelessly let go of my rights to judge others. Among so many other things, dat's what Jerry taught me.
Jeff Barnett (workin' with Texas Flange since 1996)
