Inventor and Businessman but mostly 'friend' to all who met him.
Christian Dillard Gibson, Inventor of First Narrow Aisle Forklift Truck, died at the age of 89 in League City, Texas where he recently moved. To his colleagues at The Raymond Corporation, he was simply "Chris." To the warehousing industry, his contributions were legendary. He retired from the company in 1980 at the age of 76, but continued to work as a consultant for them until his death. He was born on a melon farm in Rocky Ford, Colorado. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1937 with a degree in Civil Engineering, where he was named editor of the "Colorado Engineer." He moved to Pueblo, Colorado where he worked for the American Brake Shoe Company. He was then transferred to Niagara Falls and then to New Jersey in the early 1940's. In 1943, he answered an ad in the New York Times for an engineering position at the Lyon-Raymond Corporation, in Greene, New York. He thought that he was going to Long Island, New York for his interview when he got on the train. He ended up getting the job at what would become "The Raymond Corporation" on November 27, 1943. He moved to Greene to become the first professional engineer to be hired by company founder George G. Raymond Sr. During World War II, Lyon-Raymond would design and make anything anyone would pay them to make. "Chris's passing marks a sad day in the history of the materials handling business, his contributions formed a foundation for the success of this company and changed the way businesses think about warehousing." said James J. Malvaso, president and CEO of The Raymond Corporation. With his professional training and talent, and support from Raymond Sr., he designed, and the company manufactured, the first narrow aisle truck in North America in 1949. This concept revolutionized the materials handling industry and brought about tremendous space savings by reducing warehouse floor space devoted to aisles and increasing available storage space. In 1951, Gibson and Raymond Sr. were granted a patent on the power-driven, narrow aisle materials handling truck, called the Model 700 Spacemaker. By 1953, The Raymond Corporation had manufactured 1,000 of the new trucks. The principle of this first patent is still being applied today wherever palletized goods are handled around the world. Over his 36 years of service at The Raymond Corporation, he continued to design lift trucks for the company and was granted more than 200 patents, 43 of them on mechanical devices related to material handling equipment, alone. His contributions to the community were numerous, including handcrafting new historical markers for the Village of Greene. His personal interests were, his church; The First Congregational Church of Greene, The Greene Rotary Club, The Masons, and The Genegantslet Golf Club where he got his first hole in one the day before his 80th birthday. He loved to fly and got his pilot's license in 1969. He also loved woodworking and metalworking and the stock market. The Raymond Corporation is a leading North American provider of materials handling solutions that improve space utilization and productivity, with lower cost of operation and greater operator acceptance.
Christian Dillard Gibson, Inventor of First Narrow Aisle Forklift Truck, died at the age of 89 in League City, Texas where he recently moved. To his colleagues at The Raymond Corporation, he was simply "Chris." To the warehousing industry, his contributions were legendary. He retired from the company in 1980 at the age of 76, but continued to work as a consultant for them until his death. He was born on a melon farm in Rocky Ford, Colorado. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1937 with a degree in Civil Engineering, where he was named editor of the "Colorado Engineer." He moved to Pueblo, Colorado where he worked for the American Brake Shoe Company. He was then transferred to Niagara Falls and then to New Jersey in the early 1940's. In 1943, he answered an ad in the New York Times for an engineering position at the Lyon-Raymond Corporation, in Greene, New York. He thought that he was going to Long Island, New York for his interview when he got on the train. He ended up getting the job at what would become "The Raymond Corporation" on November 27, 1943. He moved to Greene to become the first professional engineer to be hired by company founder George G. Raymond Sr. During World War II, Lyon-Raymond would design and make anything anyone would pay them to make. "Chris's passing marks a sad day in the history of the materials handling business, his contributions formed a foundation for the success of this company and changed the way businesses think about warehousing." said James J. Malvaso, president and CEO of The Raymond Corporation. With his professional training and talent, and support from Raymond Sr., he designed, and the company manufactured, the first narrow aisle truck in North America in 1949. This concept revolutionized the materials handling industry and brought about tremendous space savings by reducing warehouse floor space devoted to aisles and increasing available storage space. In 1951, Gibson and Raymond Sr. were granted a patent on the power-driven, narrow aisle materials handling truck, called the Model 700 Spacemaker. By 1953, The Raymond Corporation had manufactured 1,000 of the new trucks. The principle of this first patent is still being applied today wherever palletized goods are handled around the world. Over his 36 years of service at The Raymond Corporation, he continued to design lift trucks for the company and was granted more than 200 patents, 43 of them on mechanical devices related to material handling equipment, alone. His contributions to the community were numerous, including handcrafting new historical markers for the Village of Greene. His personal interests were, his church; The First Congregational Church of Greene, The Greene Rotary Club, The Masons, and The Genegantslet Golf Club where he got his first hole in one the day before his 80th birthday. He loved to fly and got his pilot's license in 1969. He also loved woodworking and metalworking and the stock market. The Raymond Corporation is a leading North American provider of materials handling solutions that improve space utilization and productivity, with lower cost of operation and greater operator acceptance.
Inventor and Businessman but mostly 'friend' to all who met him.
Christian Dillard Gibson, Inventor of First Narrow Aisle Forklift Truck, died at the age of 89 in League City, Texas where he recently moved. To his colleagues at The Raymond Corporation, he was simply "Chris." To the warehousing industry, his contributions were legendary. He retired from the company in 1980 at the age of 76, but continued to work as a consultant for them until his death. He was born on a melon farm in Rocky Ford, Colorado. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1937 with a degree in Civil Engineering, where he was named editor of the "Colorado Engineer." He moved to Pueblo, Colorado where he worked for the American Brake Shoe Company. He was then transferred to Niagara Falls and then to New Jersey in the early 1940's. In 1943, he answered an ad in the New York Times for an engineering position at the Lyon-Raymond Corporation, in Greene, New York. He thought that he was going to Long Island, New York for his interview when he got on the train. He ended up getting the job at what would become "The Raymond Corporation" on November 27, 1943. He moved to Greene to become the first professional engineer to be hired by company founder George G. Raymond Sr. During World War II, Lyon-Raymond would design and make anything anyone would pay them to make. "Chris's passing marks a sad day in the history of the materials handling business, his contributions formed a foundation for the success of this company and changed the way businesses think about warehousing." said James J. Malvaso, president and CEO of The Raymond Corporation. With his professional training and talent, and support from Raymond Sr., he designed, and the company manufactured, the first narrow aisle truck in North America in 1949. This concept revolutionized the materials handling industry and brought about tremendous space savings by reducing warehouse floor space devoted to aisles and increasing available storage space. In 1951, Gibson and Raymond Sr. were granted a patent on the power-driven, narrow aisle materials handling truck, called the Model 700 Spacemaker. By 1953, The Raymond Corporation had manufactured 1,000 of the new trucks. The principle of this first patent is still being applied today wherever palletized goods are handled around the world. Over his 36 years of service at The Raymond Corporation, he continued to design lift trucks for the company and was granted more than 200 patents, 43 of them on mechanical devices related to material handling equipment, alone. His contributions to the community were numerous, including handcrafting new historical markers for the Village of Greene. His personal interests were, his church; The First Congregational Church of Greene, The Greene Rotary Club, The Masons, and The Genegantslet Golf Club where he got his first hole in one the day before his 80th birthday. He loved to fly and got his pilot's license in 1969. He also loved woodworking and metalworking and the stock market. The Raymond Corporation is a leading North American provider of materials handling solutions that improve space utilization and productivity, with lower cost of operation and greater operator acceptance.
Christian Dillard Gibson, Inventor of First Narrow Aisle Forklift Truck, died at the age of 89 in League City, Texas where he recently moved. To his colleagues at The Raymond Corporation, he was simply "Chris." To the warehousing industry, his contributions were legendary. He retired from the company in 1980 at the age of 76, but continued to work as a consultant for them until his death. He was born on a melon farm in Rocky Ford, Colorado. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1937 with a degree in Civil Engineering, where he was named editor of the "Colorado Engineer." He moved to Pueblo, Colorado where he worked for the American Brake Shoe Company. He was then transferred to Niagara Falls and then to New Jersey in the early 1940's. In 1943, he answered an ad in the New York Times for an engineering position at the Lyon-Raymond Corporation, in Greene, New York. He thought that he was going to Long Island, New York for his interview when he got on the train. He ended up getting the job at what would become "The Raymond Corporation" on November 27, 1943. He moved to Greene to become the first professional engineer to be hired by company founder George G. Raymond Sr. During World War II, Lyon-Raymond would design and make anything anyone would pay them to make. "Chris's passing marks a sad day in the history of the materials handling business, his contributions formed a foundation for the success of this company and changed the way businesses think about warehousing." said James J. Malvaso, president and CEO of The Raymond Corporation. With his professional training and talent, and support from Raymond Sr., he designed, and the company manufactured, the first narrow aisle truck in North America in 1949. This concept revolutionized the materials handling industry and brought about tremendous space savings by reducing warehouse floor space devoted to aisles and increasing available storage space. In 1951, Gibson and Raymond Sr. were granted a patent on the power-driven, narrow aisle materials handling truck, called the Model 700 Spacemaker. By 1953, The Raymond Corporation had manufactured 1,000 of the new trucks. The principle of this first patent is still being applied today wherever palletized goods are handled around the world. Over his 36 years of service at The Raymond Corporation, he continued to design lift trucks for the company and was granted more than 200 patents, 43 of them on mechanical devices related to material handling equipment, alone. His contributions to the community were numerous, including handcrafting new historical markers for the Village of Greene. His personal interests were, his church; The First Congregational Church of Greene, The Greene Rotary Club, The Masons, and The Genegantslet Golf Club where he got his first hole in one the day before his 80th birthday. He loved to fly and got his pilot's license in 1969. He also loved woodworking and metalworking and the stock market. The Raymond Corporation is a leading North American provider of materials handling solutions that improve space utilization and productivity, with lower cost of operation and greater operator acceptance.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
