in memoriam…

Stan Dunford, 1957-2012

Last week, there was a tragic loss for the Atlas Carpet Mills family, as well as our studio. As many of you know, the Atlas family has had a profound influence on me regarding how to run my business and the importance of working with ethics and respect. Jim Horwich, President of Atlas, leads his company with a strong moral compass. He has always shown great respect to his team and our studio, and has a passion for the work he inspires. He has been a role model for me in this respect, and paralleled everything I learned from my parents about responsibility and honoring others.

So it was not surprising that Jim brought in Stan Dunford to take over the VP of Manufacturing and Operations after John Morency retired. Stan had some big shoes to fill and did so with ease, winning the confidence of everyone at Atlas, and fit right in. Stan always greeted us with a smile whenever we had the opportunity to work together in Los Angeles or Chicago. He always expressed enthusiasm, a natural interest in what we were doing as well as the ideas and solutions we brought to the table for Atlas. His passion, clarity and pragmatism were immediate and genuine. (He was even excited about the LED lamps we had just found and were testing in NYC with Mark a few weeks ago and I was looking forward to flying out to LA with the samples to show him what we found, as he understood and supported my passion for the detail, no matter how mundane it may seem to others!).

He made a great compliment to me during our most recent conference call by way of voicing the standards needed to be maintained as we discussed potential renovations to one of their LA facilities we had previously renovated in 1998; he said “we have a beautiful facility and whatever we do, that quality established here must be maintained or it’s not worth doing”. I was so moved and proud by that comment and it makes this all so much more bittersweet.

From my point of view he was a great mediator and solid anchor within the Atlas family and my heart goes out to everyone there, and his family and friends. Everyone we touch in life is precious and should never be taken for granted. I have few ways to honor Stan, so this little note is my small way to do so…

TOM