My father, Russell Zierick, passed away on July 15 at the age of 85. He worked in our industry for nearly 70 years, starting in the family business as a part-time shipping clerk in the 1930s.
His father, Frederick, the founder of Zierick Mfg., was the entrepreneur. His uncle, Ambrose, was the tinkerer, with a few patents to his name. Russell loved the process of manufacturing, be it making the best die, stamping out parts at 1000 strokes/min., plating to guarantee solderability, or managing the mountain of data the business needed. He loved technology.
He helped design and install sound enclosures around every Zierick Mfg. press in the early 1970s. He purchased a wire-EDM machine in the mid-to-late ’70s. In the ’60s he installed an IBM computer system that managed customer orders, work orders, purchase orders, inventory, and accounts receivable and payable. Around 1980 he went to a trade show and bought a CNC milling machine off the show floor. He got excited about every new tool our industry invented to help us do our jobs better. More recently that meant adding vision systems to our presses, automating the first-piece inspection process and moving to a full 3D CAD system.
Until just a few weeks before his death, Russell was in the office two or three days per week, despite being officially retired. He was our Excel expert – the only one in the company who could easily write macros and create pivot tables. He also was the source of institutional knowledge, remembering past problems and solutions and providing input that would help us quickly reach the root cause of a new issue.
He will be missed.
Gretchen Zierick is President of Zierick Manufacturing Corporation and PMA's 2010 Chair. She has served on PMA's Governmental Action team and the PMA Educational Foundation Board. Her 90 year old, family founded company manufactures electronic connectors and assembly equipment for a variety of industries.Share: 
