Tony Sikorcin, one of the founding members of the American Mold Builders Association, died Oct. 28 at age 83 at his home in Boynton Beach, Fla. The cause was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Sikorcin founded Craftsman Tool & Mold Co. in 1965, a 43-employee business now located in Aurora, Ill. In 2008 he retired and passed the business over to his son Wayne Sikorcin. Craftsman specializes in large, tight-tolerance custom mold bases for plastic injection molds.
Sikorcin originally started Craftsman as a 10-employee business in Franklin Park, Ill. The company outgrew its early facility and moved to Aurora. Early work was supported by a Cincinnati Hydrotel milling machine with travels big enough to build fixtures for auto dashboards and headlight fixtures.
When Craftsman moved to Aurora one of its first big jobs was making mold bases for the Kodak Disc Camera. The capacity to make large mold bases "was just what Kodak needed," according to Craftsman director of sales Scott Smith.
He was known for his attention to detail in whatever he did. Outside the tool shop this trait led to his achieving a hole-in-one in golf and a perfect 300 game in bowling. Smith said he always had a good joke for the day.
"I will miss sharing my dad's victories and also the struggles with him," Wayne Smith noted in his father's obituary.
Sikorcin is survived by his wife Ramona, his sister June Tate, four children, 11 grandchildren, a great grandchild and two nieces. He was preceded in death by daughter Sue Schultz. In lieu of flowers, the family requested donations to iWarriors.org, which supports wounded military personnel.