IN MEMORIAM

We are saddened to share the news of the passing of David Cutler, longtime publisher of our flagship publication, The Merchant Magazine, and founder of Building Products Digest and Building-Products.com, on Dec. 4, 2022. He was 88.

David Horton Cutler was born May 26, 1934, in Boston, Ma. He served with the U.S. Army during the Korean War, then received a degree in journalism from the University of Nevada in 1959. He worked as an editor on Stars & Stripes in 1961, before joining the staff of the California Lumber Merchant in 1962. In time, he purchased the company from A.D. Bell.

David added a sister publication, Building Products Digest, in 1982, and industry news hub Building-Products.com in 1995.

Early on, David recognized that the most important component of the industry was the people and their relationships Dave and Marti Cutler

with each other. So he strove to build community through his magazines, introducing exhaustive photo coverage of as many events as possible. As well, 50 years ago helping to form a weekly industry luncheon, the Lumbermen’s Information Exchange Society (LIES).

He was also inventor of everyone’s favorite mythical lumber company, Mungus-Fungus Forest Products.

We thank David for his leadership and friendship. He is survived by sons, Geoff and Greg, and his lovely wife, Marti.

Kenneth Charles “K.C.” Stock, 84, founder of the forerunner of Stock Building Supply, passed away on Nov. 28. He left St. Norbert College after two years to join his father’s Scanlan & Stock Lumber, Oconto, Wi. After launching his own pallet business in Oconto, he purchased Scanlan & Stock in 1971, renaming it Stock Lumber. As the years went by, he expanded to Green Bay, Appleton, Princeton, Fond Du Lac, Stevens Point, Sussex, Delavan, Windsor, La Crosse, Eagan, and Rochester, Wi. In 1998, he sold his yards to U.K.based plumbing distributor Wolseley, which renamed all of its lumberyards Stock Building Supply. The Wisconsin properties would be resold in 2009 and become Wisconsin Building Supply.

Leslie Owen “Les” Bjornsen, 92, former owner of American River Lumber, Portland, Or., died Nov. 26. Les started his career as a lumber broker at North Pacific Lumber, Portland. He joined American River Lumber in 1959.

Paul Kovach, commercial sales manager for Spenard Builders Supply, Anchorage, Ak., died unexpectedly on Dec. 12 at the age of 60. He had been with SBS since 1986.

Robert Dean “Bob” Jones, 83, owner of CPC Building Supply, Kettle Falls, Wa., passed away Dec. 16. After receiving a degree in wildlife biology from Washington State University in 1966, he moved to Spokane. He started CPC in 1984.

Terry Owen Bristol, 84, longtime employee of his parents’ Milligan Lumber Co., Fort Collins, Co., died Dec. 6.

William Jeff Glenn, 92, formerly with Glenn Lumber Co., Portales, N.M., died Dec. 1. After attending Eastern New Mexico University and serving in the U.S. Army, Jeff worked as a warehouse man. He then worked with his father at Glenn Lumber until 1963, when he started a construction company.

Raymond P. “Ray” Elder, 92, retired financial executive with Southwest Forest Industries, Phoenix, Az., died Nov. 23 in Loveland, Co. After graduating from the University of Washington in 1952, Ray attended U.S. Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., and was granted a commission in the U.S. Navy. He served as a line officer aboard a U.S. Navy ship in the Pacific Fleet until December 1955, participating in the hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll. He returned to the University of Washington for a year of graduate work, then served as a CPA until joining Southwest Forest Industries as assistant corporate controller. He retired in 1987 as executive vice president and chief financial officer.