John M. Grigor, a plastics machinery veteran, died April 17. He was 68.
A memorial service was held April 29 at Simsbury United Methodist Church in Simsbury, Conn. Grigor, of Avon, died from kidney failure as a complication of diabetes.
In the 1970s, Grigor served as a top executive of injection press maker New Britain Machine Co. in New Britain, Conn. He started a plastics machinery rebuilding company in Bristol, Conn., called New-Tech in the late 1970s.
Grigor founded JMG Associates Ltd., a machinery sales representative and consulting firm, in the early 1980s. JMG acted as the U.S. sales agent for German injection press maker Mannesmann Demag Kunststofftechnik and Austrian robot supplier Wittmann Kunststoffgeräte GmbH. He helped make Demag and Wittmann well-known names in the U.S. market, becoming the president of Wittmann's U.S. operation in Torrington, Conn., Wittmann Robot & Automation Systems Inc.
He later founded the Injectech Division of JMG Associates in Torrington, to supply automation systems for vertical injection molding machines. He sold Injectech in 1999 to current owner Kenneth Heyse.
Grigor is survived by his wife, Edith, two daughters and grandchildren.