DENVER, N.C. — Leonard Frushtick, founder of Leonard Automatics, died Monday at age 80, the company reports.
Frushtick started his career selling buttons to the garment manufacturing industry, and later expanded the business to include a variety of machinery.
In 1969, he moved his family to North Carolina to be closer to the garment industry and founded Leonard Automatics. As garment manufacturing began to decline in the mid-’80s, Frushtick migrated to the laundry industry. His creativity gave him the ability to develop new technologies involved with garment finishing, and has lent itself to promoting an atmosphere of creativity and innovation at Leonard Automatics that exists to this day, the company says.
Frushtick became a prolific painter after his retirement, and he and his wife, Phyllis, traveled extensively, providing a wealth of experiences for him to express on canvas.
A private memorial service for Frushtick is scheduled for Friday in Bluffton, S.C. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hospice Care of the Low Country, 119 Palmetto Way, Bluffton, SC 29910.
Surviving are his wife of 60 years, Phyllis; daughters, Sue Jones and Geri Bland; son, Jeffrey Frushtick; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
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