Allen Ray, Co-Founder of ElectricalTrends, Passes Away

Allen Ray, a long-time industry veteran known by many due to his distribution background, involvement with electrical industry ERP companies and software companies, his consultancy, Allen Ray Associates which focused on supporting distributors in the areas of pricing, profitability and operational improvements and a co-founded of ElectricalTrends, passed away on February 14^th.  Allen was 81 years old.  He retired from the industry late July 2016 to spend more time with Carole, his wife. In his retirement note to me he wrote “the time has come for me to spend what time I have with my wife, partner and best buddy.”

Allen was a unique individual. A graduate of Texas A&M’s Industrial Distribution program he maintained connections with the school, Barry Lawrence and his Aggies.  Allen seemed to know “everyone” and had unknown ways of gathering insights from companies.  He was very knowledge, very insightful and a mentor.

While I knew of him in my early years in the industry given that he was a Trade Service salesperson, we collaborated for over 10 years, sharing industry insights, working together on clients and referring opportunities with each other and then deciding to co-found ElectricalTrends in 2007. We also jointly wrote articles for Electrical Wholesaling.  Many articles on ElectricalTrends that relate to pricing and operational efficiency bear Allen’s name.

Allen was passionate for his family, loved spending time on his ranch and helping distributors improve profitability.

He was a fountain of knowledge and was always willing to share. We traded many stories and helped each other. I am proud to have called him a friend.

Thoughts, and memories, from Pat McCartin, who started with Allen at Trade Service in 1989 include:

Allen was the big brother I never had.  We had very similar political views. He had a pilot’s license. He was a proud graduate of Texas A&M. He went to school with all the old-time politicians. He was a gun enthusiast. We both liked Texas.

We started together at Trade Service Corp at about the same time. We traveled together to work shows and seminars. We were caught in floods several times like the time in St. Joseph MO when we were trapped on the 3rd floor of a hotel for 2 days when the Mississippi rose and flooded too quickly. No electricity. No water. Flood water in lobby smelled bad.

Then we were going to a CED regional meeting in the Carolinas and got caught in the flooding when road bridges were underwater as we watched dead cows and pigs wash past…

Allen had a great sense of humor, very low-key and dry. He hated “I”talian food with sauce. He was the King of Brisket at his favorite place Spring Creek Bar-B-Que.

When in the Houston area we frequented the Pappdeaux restaurants. Another Allen Favorite.

He came from a family supply business so we had similar backgrounds which gave us a lot to talk about. He was a homebuilder for a time and we discussed the differences in building styles and codes between Texas and New England

He came up to the Mount Washington Hotel in NH for a CED Yankee Division Conference. We stayed in a room at the historic Mt Washington Hotel. He complained about the squeaky floors in the 200-year-old hotel. We each had a laptop that needed charging and there was only one outlet in our room and it was in the bathroom. So, one laptop was in the sink and the other was in the claw footed bathtub.

To calm him down about roughing it I took him to the bar which was in a stone cave in the basement.  He was very impressed with the Cog Railway which climbed Mt Washington to the peak while spewing black smoke from burning coal.

Allen and I and our wives vacationed together several times. We learned that the Chinese descends on Maui light off tons of Fireworks at ground level on New Year’s Eve.

We learned that Ethan Allen & the Green Mountain Boys were very short when we stayed at the Equinox Hotel in Bennington VT. Allen again complained about the squeaky floors and very low ceilings. He was impressed by the Revolutionary War vintage pub.

We went to South Padre Island TX for one New Year’s weekend. It was rainy and cold but we found Kelly’s Irish Pub on South Padre Island and one day we took the girls into Mexico for dinner in Matamoros Mexico.

Traveling through Matamoros Mexico in taxi cabs and on a “Romancing the Stone” type bus with stainless steel seats, chickens, goats and pigs, is an adventure. You don’t need a driver’s license in Mexico.

The Drive-In Restaurant was an Allen find. It was South of the city and was very clean, very nice, great food and unbelievably low prices. The owner was very proud of his water purification plant in his kitchen.

We stayed at Allen’s beautiful Home in Arlington one time when Allen and Carole took us out to lunch and then on a tour of Dallas points of interest including  trip to the I-Max for a helicopter tour of Dallas after which we went back to their house where Joyce proved that it is possible to get air sick at a movie.

I think that is why they moved.

I know few people who I can talk with on the phone for an hour about a Marlin I caught in Oahu. Allen and I lied to each other about fishing often.

Allen and I spent a lot of time together in the 30 years that we knew each other.  Again, he was the big brother I didn’t have. I loved the man and he will be missed very much. -Pat McCartin

Mike Wentz, another longtime colleague of Allen’s in the technology space, and a client of Allen’s when he was at IDEA as Allen, who strongly believed in the concept, wrote the original white paper highlighting the financial benefits of “clean data”:

Allen had a large physical presence and his wisdom was even larger.  His many years of experience in the electrical channel always positioned him to be one step ahead of his competition.  I was first introduced to Allen when he was a regional manager for Trade Service publications and later worked with him as we launched a new business in the dotcom era – Trade Power circa 2000.

Allen was always enthusiastic and innovative when it came to combining technology and the electrical distribution channel. We became unlikely friends, he embodied all we think of when you picture a rugged individual from Texas and I am of modest frame and hail from what Allen often affectionately described as the “liberal northeast”.  He grew up a couple decades before I did so our life experiences were nowhere near the same.  None of our differences seemed to matter when it came to our shared interest in the electrical channel.  Allen was a good friend and a mentor to me. He once told me when in Texas be sure to park in the shade. He would always call me with news or information that he thought would help me.  He always wanted to assist and use his experience to anticipate the next big thing happening in the channel.

I admired Allen and will miss his calls.  He had a large impact on my career and the electrical channel.

Matt Petersen, a industry ERP veteran Allen knew from SAP and Microsoft, shared:

Allen Ray was a great man and I am a better man for having known him.  He was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the industry, but even more so, he was well connected.  If there was ever somebody he didn’t know (rare), he knew somebody who knew them.

Two things I will always remember about Allen. 

Allen and I would speak pretty regularly, especially when he had some information that he thought might be valuable to me.  He would call me up and we’d chat for hours.  I always listened carefully to everything he had to say.  He was so willing to share his knowledge, wisdom, and insight with me, and for that I am eternally grateful.  After a few years, I finally asked him why he was being so nice to me.  In true Allen Ray fashion he replied – “It just seems like the right thing to do.” 

Even though Allen was altruistic in this respect, we both knew that business was never far below the surface.  When Allen wanted to remind me that ours was a business relationship and he expected to get paid for at least some of the services he provided as we threw around wild ideas about engagements with his clients or mine, he would always use his homespun Texas saying “You know Matt, my dog’s got to eat.”  I now use that saying myself – always giving Allen full credit, of course.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Allen at First Presbyterian Church in Arlington Texas at 11:00 on March 14.