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Insulectro, the largest distributor of materials for use in manufacture of printed circuit boards and printed electronics, sadly announces the passing of company sales legend Neil Colgrove.
“The Insulectro family lost one of its founding salesmen this year. Neil Colgrove passed away recently. For those who did not have the pleasure of meeting him, Neil was key to the success of the company as it stands today. He made a large impact on all of us, including Robert Straccia, former Vice President of Sales, another essential founding partner of Insulectro,” stated Don Redfern, Insulectro Chairman.
Although the three original partners – Redfern, Straccia, and Colgrove – were all focused on the vitality of sales as an early driving force of Insulectro, Colgrove was affectionately credited as the company’s “first salesman.”
“Neil was the first salesperson hired by Insulectro. He was often referred to as ‘the number one employee of Insulectro,’” Robert A. Straccia recalled. “Working out of the Los Angeles area, Neil established our first branch office in San Diego and later opened the Arizona branch.
“Neil went on to be the first Insulectro 1-million-dollar branch manager and the southern regional manager” Straccia continued. “He later ran the OEM division of Insulectro.”
Don Redfern recalled, “Beyond his professional career, he was very much respected and admired by customers, suppliers, employees, and his friends. He was the most unselfish and caring person you could ever know. As for me, Neil was the most honest man I ever knew.”
“As branch manager of Insulectro’s Mountain View, CA facility, I got to know Neil very well. I was lucky enough to become a close friend of Neil. He helped me in many ways, both professionally and personally. When times got tough, he was always there to talk to and give sound advice,” Redfern continued.
Colgrove was born is Southern California. He was all conference as a high school quarterback. He went on to play football for USC. He played on the same team with Frank Gifford. After a lengthy career with Insulectro, Colgrove retired to San Clemente, CA where he passed away in October at the age of 93.
“For those of you in the industry that didn’t know Neil Colgrove, I hope you can understand what this man meant to Insulectro and to everyone that came his way. We lost a good friend. I know I did,” Straccia commented.
“Neil was a wonderful man who did so much for all of us,” Redfern concluded.
