GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Robert C. Pew, the man who led Steelcase Inc. to its ascendancy as the world’s largest office furniture company, died Saturday, Dec. 22, in Palm Beach County, Fla. He was 89.
Pew served as Steelcase board chairman for 25 years -- from 1974 until he assumed the role of chairman emeritus in March 1999.
He is survived by his children, Robert III, John, and daughter Kate Pew Wolters. He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Idema Pew, in 2007. They were married 60 years.
Born in Syracuse, N.Y., Pew moved to Grand Rapids with his family when he was 13. The family lived across the street from the home of Walter D. Idema, a founding officer of Metal Office Furniture Co. – later to become Steelcase Inc.
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Pew attended prep school at the Northwestern Military and Naval Academy in Lake Geneva, Wis. He received his bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University in 1948.
A former captain in the United States Air Force, Pew served as a pilot from 1942 to 1945 and again during the Korean crisis. He completed 100 missions during World War II, piloting a P-61 night fighter in the South Pacific.
In 1947, Pew married Idema’s daughter, Mary. He joined the company as a production expediter in 1952 and worked his way up the corporate ranks to become president in 1966. His employees knew him as a "gentle" and "fair" man.
Pew valued integrity and gave everyone a fair chance. He didn’t put himself above others, John Pew said.
"He had a lot of respect for people because of who they were and not because of what they achieved. Sometimes it was for the struggles that they had," Wolters said.
He assumed the duties of chief executive officer in 1980, a position he held until 1989.
"He believed that the success of the company or of any organization was never one person. It was always people together who led to the success," Wolters said.
An intensely private man, Robert Pew was reluctant to boast about Steelcase’s success or achievements despite its rise to the top of the world’s office furniture industry.
In 1983, he told The Press: "The whale that spouts is the one that gets the harpoon."
"This company is fortunate to be in the industry it’s in," he said. "It helps to be in the right place at the right time."
In 1990, when Fortune magazine included Pew and his family in a list of the world’s 25 wealthiest families, he issued a statement saying, "I am angry and appalled."
"Throughout its history, Steelcase has represented quality and value; it has never been a dollar-driven, profit-taking business," he said. "The Fortune article attempts to undermine the inherent values of our company and I am personally offended by the connotation."
After his retirement in 1999, he and his wife moved to North Palm Beach, Fla. In 1998, they endowed 25ドル million to the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin counties through the Mary and Robert Pew Public Education Fund.
"He and my mom were very passionate about making sure that kids in the public school system got a good start," Wolters said. "He was quietly supportive of a number of nonprofits and individuals who needed help."
Outside from his career and philanthropic efforts, Pew enjoyed sailing and skiing, for which he took many family trips to Northern Michigan.
"I saw real love and spark in his eye when he was on the ski slopes and when he was on a sailboat, and I think that was a really important part of his life," John Pew said.
Robert Pew also was instrumental in founding Grand Valley State University. He was a founding member of the Grand Valley State College Citizens Council, which helped establish the Allendale school in the early 1960s. The school named its campus in downtown Grand Rapids for him.
He served on the boards of Aquinas College, Grand Valley State University, the Cranbrook Academy of Art, United Way, Blodgett Hospital, Michigan Economic Alliance and numerous civic and state committees promoting the betterment of economic growth, education, health care and the arts.
He received honorary doctorates from Grand Valley State University, Aquinas College and Davenport College of Business.
In 1989, then-President Ronald Reagan presented Pew, on behalf of Steelcase Inc., with the National Trust Historic Preservation Award for the restoration of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Meyer May house in Grand Rapids.
In 1990, he was inducted into the Grand Rapids Business Hall of Fame. In 1998, he was named Slykehouse Businessperson of the Year by the Economic Club of Grand Rapids.
Pew was a former director of the Foremost Corporation of America, Old Kent Financial Corporation, Irwin Seating, Kirsh Company and Wometco Enterprises. He also was a past director of the National Organization on Disability and served on the Steelcase Foundation board.
He also served on the board of the Michigan State Chamber of Commerce, was a member of the Grand Valley State Colleges Citizen’s Council and the United Community Services, was a director of Old Kent Bank and Trust Co. and vice-president of the Michigan United Fund.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to the charity of your choice or the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, 185 Oakes St. SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503.
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