NAPLES, Fla. — Robert H. Fesmire Sr., formerly chairman of EllisLudell, a water treatment and industrial laundry equipment company based in Itasca, Illinois, died here on June 15. He was 84.
He was also a principal and part owner of Hybridworks, a garment recycling company based in Dayton, Ohio.
Fesmire Sr. was born July 17, 1941, in Greensboro, North Carolina, to Lester and Mable (Hinton) Fesmire. After stints at Guilford College and in the U.S. Marine Corps, he graduated from the University of Georgia and started a lifelong career in sales, beginning at the Union Camp Corporation.
It was on a blind date in Chicago that Fesmire Sr. met Victoria (“Tory”) Parkin. The couple married in 1965, and he soon went to work at the Ellis Corp., which had been founded by Tory’s great-grandfather in 1898. In 1968, Fesmire Sr. became company president, ushering in the fourth generation of family leadership.
Fesmire Sr. prided himself on listening to his customers and seeking innovative ways to solve their problems. In 1973, he purchased the Winchester Corp., making Ellis one of the first companies to introduce wastewater treatment equipment to the industrial laundry space.
In 1989, in a Paris bathtub, he came up with the idea of turning Hubey Ellis’s design for the first patented industrial unloading washing machine into a washer-extractor. Today, there are many thousands of these machines operating around the world.
In 1996, he purchased Ludell Manufacturing, giving Ellis a foothold in new industries and an ASME manufacturing plant in Milwaukee. He began stepping back from Ellis and Ludell in 2020, and his son, Robert Fesmire Jr., was named CEO; Fesmire Jr. has been actively running the business since then as the fifth generation to lead the company.
In 2023, a call from an industry colleague led to Fesmire Sr. becoming part owner of Hybridworks LLC, a company that chemically separates cotton from polyester and other petroleum-based products to be recycled back into the textile supply chain through a patented chemical process.
Fesmire Sr. brought equal passion to his personal life. He and his wife raised their family in Barrington, Ill., and were described as the consummate hosts, avid golfers and world travelers. They belonged to several country and social clubs, and generously donated their time to Chicago-area charities.
Though he had retired from the business and they moved to Naples permanently in 2022, the business was never far away from Fesmire Sr.
He is survived by his wife; son Robert Fesmire Jr.; daughter Ferris Fesmire Buddy (Noah); and four granddaughters. His younger brother, Jim Fesmire of Greensboro, N.C., preceded him in death by two weeks.
A private family burial will take place in the fall. Memorials may be directed to the Towers to Towers Foundation.
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