PAWCATUCK, CONN. - Wendell O. Whipple Sr., a veteran employee of extrusion machinery manufacturer Davis-Standard of Pawcatuck, died Dec. 18 after a brief illness. He was 54. Whipple worked at Davis-Standard for 26 years, rising through the ranks from foreman in the sheet metal shop to the post he held when he died, industry director for aftermarket and NRM extrusion machines. In 1994, he played a key role in Davis-Standard's acquisition of the NRM Polymer Division from McNeil & NRM Inc.
Co-workers recall Whipple as a vibrant man with a positive attitude who looked forward to going to work each day.
``He was a very motivated person, and he would motivate other people. What came first with him was the customers,'' said Michael Brocato, aftermarket manager, who worked with Whipple for more than 20 years at Davis-Standard.
Whipple was a longtime resident of Stonington, Conn. He was buried at River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, R.I. He is survived by his wife, Patricia, a son, Wendell O. Whipple Jr. of Kenosha, Wis., and two daughters, Susan Jordhamo of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., and Kathy Rana of Old Lyme, Conn.
Whipple Jr. works in Kenosha as a senior sales engineer for Davis-Standard. Rana's husband, Jeffrey, assembles NRM extruders.
Eastman Chemical Co.'s Lex North
NEW YORK - Lex North, 63, the supervisor for plastics industry advertising for Eastman Chemical Co., died Dec. 11 at his home in New York from a severe asthmatic reaction.
North, a native of Australia, was with Eastman Chemical Co. of Kingsport, Tenn., for nearly 11 years.
He is survived by a brother and a sister who live in Australia. Services were held in New York.
