A memorial service for plastics industry activist Frank C. DeVore will take place at 1 p.m. May 28 in Fairhaven Cemetery's Waverley chapel in Santa Ana, Calif.
DeVore died May 20 at a relative's home in Rancho Mirage, less than a week after undergoing quadruple heart bypass surgery. He was 67.
DeVore operated injection molding firm Tri-Plas Inc. in Ontario, Calif., from 1971-95. He sold the business, continuing with new owner Berry Plastics Corp. as a consultant and, most recently, was chief executive officer of T.P. Consulting.
The plastics industry and trade groups benefited from DeVore's understanding of business issues and the nuances driving political decisions. He was an advocate on myriad issues including workers' compensation and was a key member of a plastics industry political action committee.
He received the Western Plastics Award in 1989 and a Western Section Distinguished Service Award in 1984, both from the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc., and was inducted as a member of the Western Plastics Pioneer Hall of Fame in 1998. Over the years, he held numerous offices with SPI and the Pioneers.
``Frank was a man of conviction in his opinions and commitment to the plastics industry,'' said Paul Appelblom. ``Never one to shy from controversy, Frank always had a way of enlivening a conversation.'' Appelblom is president of Jatco Inc. in Union City, Calif., and incoming national SPI chairman.
DeVore had ``loyalty and integrity to his people [and was] always a straight shooter,'' said Bob Wahler, who worked at Tri-Plas for 17 years and now is a manufacturers' representative in Fullerton, Calif., for IPL Plastics Ltd.
Jeff Gage recalled DeVore befriending him ``when I was just a kid joining the industry,'' and providing counsel over the years. Gage is chief executive officer of Gage Industries Inc. in Lake Oswego, Ore.
DeVore was born in Patchogue, N.Y., in 1935, began working in the plastics industry at age 14 at Mutual Plastics and resided in Orange, Calif., for 34 years.
Survivors include his wife of 40 years, JoAnn. DeVore's brother, Tom, was an owner of mold maker Caco Pacific Corp. in Covina, Calif., from 1985-94.