I’ve told part of this story before.

I started in the “x-ray” business in 1981, having bought a small company that made x-ray viewboxes.  You can’t buy a sub-compact car today for what I paid for that business, which was housed in a 2,500 square foot triangular-shaped building.  But it sure was real money to me.

Within the year, we showed at the RSNA where I learned that I had real competitors.  At that time, all of them except Picker International (do you remember that name?) were also small family-owned businesses: Wolf, S&S, Star X-Ray and a few more.

I was young, high spirited and would try to shake anyone’s hand.  Well, I quickly learned that the “old guard”, the guys my father’s age, weren’t very interested in befriending their competitors and I got a solid cold shoulder from them.  But some of their their key managers and the “next generation” were more welcoming. 

For dozens of years to follow, we would all meet at the RSNA, or at some of the smaller trade shows and I would always try to exchange a few words with these colleagues.  Over the years, most of us became frenemies, met each other’s wives and exchanged good wishes at the important moments in our lives.

Then in 2010 we decided that it was time to close our viewbox manufacturing business.  My dream to become the king-of-viewboxes and be the last man standing in that shrinking business came up against a rapidly digitizing imaging world.  We had other avenues to pursue and it was clear that for us, keeping on bending metal was a losing proposition. 

But how to have my cake and eat it too?  Well, it turns out all viewbox manufacturers made remarkably similar products.  They looked a lot alike and the dimensions were almost identical.  So the thought occurred to me to talk with my competitors and see who might like to private label their product for me. Though our sales volumes had dropped significantly from just a few years earlier, my additional business would boost someone’s volume nicely.  I approached them all.  Most were happy to see me close my manufacturing facility and felt that my business would naturally come to them, but one guy saw it differently.

That was Fred Sopenoff of S&S X-Ray.  His reaction was immediate and welcoming.  Sure he was interested.  Sure he’d run it past his bosses and come up with a plan.  Sure he wanted to help me.  And that last line was really heartfelt.

Well, we came to an agreement and for the next few years we sent them a nice piece of business.

This week, we were asked for a “one-bank recessed” viewbox.  It also happens that in the last few days we got an email from what I believe to be the third generation of the S&S family announcing that they are stopping building all “legacy” x-ray products.  They are finally shutting down their viewbox and accessory lines. 

So here we had a real order (!) and maybe no vendor.  My partner called to see what they had in stock and in addition to learning that they might be able to fill this order, Carol learned that Fred had passed away some time ago.

Fred, a New Yorker born and bred, had moved to Houston when the company bought RADX (another name many won’t remember) and had combined their own manufacturing with RADX’s in their Houston, Texas plant.  Fred became a cowboy with enthusiasm.  Hearing that thick New York accent, listening to him tell me about his place and his horses, visualizing him with his cowboy boots up on his desk…well it just put a smile on my face every time we talked. 

Fred fought cancer on and off during his last years, but his spirit was always strong when we spoke, even after he retired from what I believe was his one and only job.  And, if I remember correctly, it was a job he inherited from his father, who had also worked for S&S for years and years.

I always said I would come visit Fred on one of my trips, but, sadly, I never did. 

We live in a highly competitive world.  It’s a world in which small businesses now compete on a global basis (when Fred and I started out it was only a national one).  It’s challenging and at times hard. But you can compete with fairness, with respect and with a helping hand.

You can compete Fred’s way.

I’ll miss him.