He began his career in hardwood shortly after he was discharged from the Army in 1959. His first job was with a Division of ServiceMaster in Geneva, Ill. From there he went from DuraSeal to Galleher to opening the U.S. subsidiary of BonaKemi, now known as Bona.
Gary Paul Reynolds, one of the founding fathers of the National Wood Flooring Association, passed away at his home in Fountain Hills, Ariz., on March 15. He was 79 years old.
He began his career in hardwood shortly after he was discharged from the Army in 1959. His first job was with a Division of ServiceMaster in Geneva, Ill. From there he went from DuraSeal to Galleher to opening the U.S. subsidiary of BonaKemi, now known as Bona.
Reynolds retired from Bona more than once; he always came back. His final retirement came on the heels of a six-year consulting job for UFloor Systems that began in 2007.
He was on the original NWFA board of directors from 1986-1990, and was also the Membership Committee chairman during those formative years.
"When the first few of us got together, we thought we had to figure out how to have an association so we could better market hardwood … we thought if we could get everybody together, we could do it. It wasn't just distributors, it wasn't just manufacturers, it wasn't just contractors. To me, of all the decisions ever made, that was the key one," Reynolds told Hardwood Floors in a 2005 interview.
He leaves his loving wife and partner of 44 years, Leanne Hill Reynolds; his brother David (Angela), nephews Mark, Scott (Jill) and niece Heather Stone; Matthew, Jack and Annie Stone and Zoe Reynolds.
A memorial service will be held at Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church on Friday, April 4 at 10 a.m. A second memorial service will be held at Elim Reformed Church in Kings, Ill., on May 3 at 10:30 a.m. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in Gary's name to the Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church Memorial Fund or to Hospice of the Valley in Scottsdale, Ariz.
(To read an extensive history of Reynolds' wood flooring career written by his friend Dinah Land, click here.)
