Doug Taylor passed away January 11, 2013. I will miss Doug Taylor. I have known Doug Taylor since April 2005, when he invited me to the Governor’s Ball at the NADCA annual event in St. Louis, Mo. Even knowing my die casting company was much smaller than his, he always treated me with respect. I never understood why, but he seemed to like me even if we were competitors. We talked many times and had lunch many times. Once during lunch, he asked that I sell my tiny die casting company and go to work for him as his president. He offered me a lot of money and a car. We laughed when I explained that I am unemployable.
In September 2008, Doug called me to visit him for lunch and he offered to sell me Del Mar Die Casting Company. He offered the zinc die casting business and the magnesium die casting business from Del Mar Industries. We met together over the next few months to see how we could make it work out. During the due diligence I got to meet his team and his family. Everyone at Delmar was excellent, just like Doug. Doug was very patient with me and my team. We came very close to closing the sale but we could not get the deal closed. Doug continued to be friendly afterwards. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word.
– Bob Thomas, President
Kinetic Die Casting, Inc.
This excerpt is from NADCA:
Longtime NADCA member Doug Taylor passed away on January 11, 2013. Doug was a tremendous NADCA member and supporter. He always said that he found the warmest and most generous people in the die casting industry, and he had never met such great friends.
Doug joined the team at Del Mar Die Casting in 1981 and became president and CEO in January of 1986. Under Doug’s leadership, Del Mar Die Casting acquired Gardena Planting and Los Angeles Die Casting, becoming Del Mar Industries. Doug received the Austin T. Lillegren Award in 2010, which is presented in recognition of loyal and extraordinary services to the association and the die casting industry.
A strong supporter of NADCA, Doug attended every Executive Conference from 1989-2010, and every NADCA Government Affairs Briefing from 1987-2010 until his retirement in 2010. During his terms on NADCA’s Board, he only missed one meeting out of 52. Doug joined the Board in 1992 as one of the original 28 Board members of the newly formed NADCA, serving a total of 13 years on the Board.
The service for Doug Taylor will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, January 25th at the following address:
Westwood United Methodist Church
10497 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Doug and all of his great stories will be missed.
