Jürgen Bader, Entrepreneur and Friend
1943 - 2009
“Unsere Geschichten sind geschrieben.”
(“Our history has been written.”)
Jürgen Bader, our Tempest Partner who owns BIG in Germany, was killed in a motorcycle accident on Saturday, April 4th, 2009. He was Mr. PPV to Europe and without his commitment to PPV, Tempest, as well as our industry, would not be what we are today.
Jürgen Bader was a Renaissance Man, by Dexter Coffman
Jürgen Bader was a Renaissance Man. He was the youngest glider pilot in Germany in his youth, then a sailor, he and his wife Maria did ballroom dancing for many years and then he achieved his greatest and proudest position in life: that of an Entrepreneur.
He worked for German fire truck manufacturer Ziegler for 24 years and when we met he was company Sales Manager and one of the four top executives. He was guaranteed a job for life under German law.
In 1988 when Tempest was just two years old Jürgen saw his first demonstration of PPV. He immediately saw an opportunity and made a decision to ask me that if he left Ziegler, would I allow him to be the Tempest Distributor and Dealer for Europe. I was, of course, honored that someone with 24-years of fire experience was willing to join our operation, considering we were in a roll-up door garage working off a picnic table with three employees.
I sent him a letter cautioning that I could not guarantee the future and he would lose his benefits at Ziegler if we failed, but he said, "The first 24 years of my business life were for family and the rest of my life is to be an entrepreneur."
He became Mr. PPV of all Europe and we worked side-by-side as he built his and Tempests' business. Without Jürgen's vision and commitment, Tempest would not be the World Brand it is today.
In recent years as we both headed for retirement he would say that, "Our History has been written." There are people today who will live long and healthy lives because of PPV/PPA and yes we did write history together, but now I must move on and although this will be hard Jürgen always said when things were hardest, "Remember Dexter, tomorrow is a new day."
He was loved by so many and will be dearly missed.
April 13, 2009
___________________________________________________
If you choose, the Bader Family has requested Donations be made to
Children's Hospital, St. Nikolaus, in remembrance of Jürgen.
Name of charity: Kinderhospiz St. Nikolaus
Account No.: 133 78 90
Bank Code: 731 900 00
Bank: VR-Bank Memmingen
IBAN (routing number): DE86 7319 0000 0001 3378 90
SWIFT-BIC Code: GENoDEF1MM1
The Bank information is listed above. Tempest will be making a donation and if you wish to include yours with ours we will include your name and pay the wire transfer fees. Just send the donation to Tempest Technology Corp., Attention Danette Dunn, at 4708 N. Blythe Ave., Fresno, CA 93722.
___________________________________________________
|
