Equipment pioneer Vermeer dies
4 Feb, 2009DES MOINES, IA — Gary Vermeer, 90, inventor and founder of one of Iowa's premier farm and construction equipment manufacturers, died Monday at Hospice of Pella Comfort House, reports the Des Moines Register.
Pella-based Vermeer Manufacturing grew out of a business that Gary Vermeer and a cousin, banker Ralph Vermeer, created in 1948 to manufacture wagon hoists. Gary Vermeer got the idea for the hoist from neighbors who had to shovel corn out of farm wagons. The hoist attached to the wagon and would dump an entire load by lifting the front end.
"His reputation for invention and management is well known," said Mike Ralston, president of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry.
Vermeer was 29 when he invented the wagon hoist in 1948. He went on to create a number of other innovations for farm and construction equipment, including the first round hay baler, the first stump cutter and a line of trenching equipment that is now sold worldwide, reports the Register.
"Equipment pioneer Vermeer dies," by David Elbert, Des Moines Register, Feb. 3, 2009
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