JOHNSTOWN, Ohio-Tech International President and CEO Pauline Chambers Yost, 84, and her husband, Walter Yost, 80, died Sept. 1 following an auto accident near Johnstown.
The head-on crash occured on Ohio Rt. 161 as the couple was heading toward Newark, Ohio, for an outing on Mr. Yost's boat.
Mrs. Yost was inducted into the International Tire Retreading and Repairing Hall of Fame in 1999 and received the Industry Leadership Award from the International Tire & Rubber Association in 1988.
She had served at the helm of the family-owned company, based in Johnstown, since the death of her first husband, Frank Chambers, in 1972. Under her leadership, Tech grew to become what it says is the world's largest supplier of tire repair materials and equipment.
The company operates manufacturing facilities in Northern Ireland, Hungary, India and China and has sales and administative offices in Japan, Belgium, Australia, and Columbia. It purchased Tru-flex/Pang Rubber Products of Los Angeles in 1998.
Tech said Mrs. Yost's daughter, Cheryl Chambers Poulton, will assume acting duties as president and CEO. Tech intends to remain a family-owned business, according to a company statement.
Prior to his retirement in 1980, Mr. Yost spent 29 years with the railroad police, before which he served variously as chief of police in Buffalo, N.Y., superintendent of police in Chicago, and captain of the Columbus, Ohio, police force.
The family has requested that memorial contributions be made to the Chambers Foundation, a non-profit organization supporting causes such as the Johnstown/Licking County Schools, Battered Women's Shelter of Licking County and the Monroe Township Fire Department. The foundation's address is P.O. Box 486, Johnstown, OH 43031.