Among industry veterans who died in 2014 were:
c Tire Rack Inc. Chairman Emeritus and founder Peter “Pete” Veldman, March 3 at age 87.
c William Floyd, former longtime executive director of the Ohio Tire Dealers & Retreaders Association (OTDRA), March 7.
c Former General Tire & Rubber Co. President Gilbert Neal, March 8 at age 82 in Naples, Fla.
c Long-time tire industry veteran William “Bill” Hirst Jr.m March 13 at age 57.
c William W. Davis, former vice president of private brands for B.F. Goodrich Tire Co., March 17 in Naples, Fla., at age 89.
c Jaclyn “Jackie” Pobiega, 36, marketing communications and public relations specialist for Continental Tire the Americas L.L.C., April 1 from a traffic accident in Fort Mill, S.C.
c Graham Willis, 79, a planter who helped Goodyear with its advances in the cultivation of natural rubber, died on June 2.
c Michael J. Connor, former vice president of marketing services at Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., July 12.
c Charles W. Hamad, 65, owner and president of Hamad Tire Inc., died Aug. 21 in Akron.
c Dave Raphael, director of marketing for Mighty Auto Parts, died Sept. 5 of cardiac arrest at age 53.
c John Hogan Jr. co-founder of Leesburg, Va.-based Hogan & Sons Inc. retail tire dealership, Sept. 23 at age 82.
c Alain Karmona, owner of Paska/Tire Bargain Center Inc. in Kenner, La., Sept. 12. He was 75.
c Jaiheon “Jack” Kim, former Hankook Tire America Corp. executive and a strategic business associate at Tire Consultants Group L.L.C., Oct. 7.
c Coker Tire Co. founder Harold Coker, 84, Nov. 16, just weeks after being inducted into the Tire Industry Hall of Fame.
c Long time Speedway Motorsports Inc. director Robert L. Rewey, Nov. 29.
c Jack Raynal Pearson, founder of Pearson Tire and other businesses in Utah, Dec. 9 at age 87.