William Seth Gill, Flexicon Founder, 1929-2010
BELVIDERE, PA William S. Gill, Founder and former Chairman of Flexicon Corporation, died at his home of cancer and related complications on March 16, 2010.
Born July 13, 1929 and raised in Hanover Township, PA, he earned an Engineering Degree from Penn State University, and was employed as a draftsman for Taylor-Stiles Company, and then as Chief Engineer for Foremost Machine Builders.
In 1966 he founded Automatic Industrial Machines Company with two partners, before venturing on his own to start Flexicon in 1974. He established manufacturing operations in Fairfield, NJ and moved to increasingly larger facilities in Lodi, NJ (1978), Phillipsburg, NJ (1988), Easton PA (1995) and Bethlehem PA (2001), the company's current headquarters.
In 1990 he formed a joint venture with Canterbury Conveyors in the UK called Flexicon Europe Ltd, now in Herne Bay, Kent, and in 2000 established a manufacturing subsidiary called Flexicon Africa Ltd. in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
He is survived by his wife Carol, son David, daughters Michele and Kaitlynn, and eight grandchildren.
"He was a good, fair man, and the hardest-working person I have ever known," recounts David Gill, who worked with his father since the company's founding and now heads the operation. "He loved the organization he created, and was proud of every individual who contributed to its success."
