William Melville, 69, died Aug. 17 at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes from the effects of leukemia.
Melville was a founder, president and CEO of blow molder Mayfair Plastics in Carson, Calif.
Born in Torrance, Calif., Melville attended the College of the Pacific, received a business degree from the University of Southern California and joined the Mayfair Creamery on a fulltime basis in 1962. His father and grandfather had established the milk-processing business in 1955.
Melville led the initiative for the creamery to begin blow molding bottles in late 1966 and formed the separate blow molding company in 1968. He sold Mayfair Plastics to Atlanta-based Consolidated Container Co. LLC in 2005. At that time, the midmarket producer of rigid plastics packaging employed 110 at its 67,000-square-foot plant. The company operated 17 continuous-extrusion-shuttle and intermittent-reciprocating-screw machines, mostly from Uniloy and Bekum, and had annual sales of about $16 million.
Melville enjoyed sport fishing and his 48-foot-long powerboat.
Survivors include his widow, Cheryl, a daughter, son and three grandchildren.
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 1311 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains, N.Y. 10605, is accepting memorial donations.
