Obituaries: George Farley, Phil Rosenfield, Edward Mohr

George Farley, one of the finest editors to ever write for Electrical Wholesaling magazine, passed away on July 1 at the age of 88. George worked for the magazine in one of its golden eras, when it was owned by McGraw-Hill Inc., New York. He, George Ganzenmuller, the magazine’s long-time chief editor, and Tom Preston were key players on an editorial staff that went on to win many national editorial awards and set a standard of editorial excellence to which EW’s current staff still aspires.

After his editorial career at EW, George went on to work with Tom Preston at the National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association, (NEMRA) in its early years. George loved the electrical industry, the publishing business, and was a world-class storyteller who flavored his tales with a devilish wit and a hint of an Irish brogue. He gave generously of his time to junior editors learning the business and was as entertaining a conversationalist as you will ever meet in the electrical world. George was a graduate of New York University and a B-29 tail gunner for the U.S. Air Force who flew 35 combat missions over Japan in World War II.

Phil Rosenfield, the founder of ROMAC Supply Co., passed away at age 90 on June 26. ROMAC was one of the early electrical equipment recyclers, returning out-of-service equipment back to safe condition for reuse.  Rosenfield also founded or helped found Power Controls Inc., MGM Transformer, ROMAC Motor and Control-Phoenix, Armistead Companies Ltd., Rosewood Products, Key-Don Scissor-lifts, Santa Fe Hydraulics, PER Partners and several other businesses.

Edward Mohr, a long-time employee of Johnson Electric Supply Co., Cincinnati, passed away July 6 at age 87.  He joined Johnson Electric Supply at  15. The company founder, Claude Johnson, Sr., picked him up while he was hitchhiking to Cincinnati on June 8, 1942, and hired him on the spot. Mohr was with the company for 72 years. He served in the U.S. Navy and saw active duty in the Pacific Theatre.