Our industry has unfortunately experienced a lot of loss recently. In January, the PVF sector lost PVF Roundtable founder Sidney Westbrook, who passed away just a couple of months shy of 83 years old. Also in January, William F. Meyer Co. announced the loss of its co-owner, Bill Meyer. Additionally, in February, two distributors lost leaders — founder of Massachusetts-based, Independent Pipe and Supply Co., Ed Nierman passed away at 98-years-old and Mark Berman, owner of Tuscan, Arizona-based Benjamin Supply passed away on February 7.
It’s not fun to list these losses, but hearing from peers, competitors and loved ones of these men reinforces the true family-like atmosphere the PHCP-PVF industry embodies, and that is something to be honored and celebrated. It is an industry where even the toughest of competitors share mutual respect and care for one another. This is certainly the case when it comes to Mr. Ed Nierman, or “Eddie Nierman” as many were used to calling him.