Twelve
Inducted into Hall of Fame
Heritage Foundation
to Receive
$2 million Endowment
A surprise
announcement was made of a
$2 million estate endowment gift to the foundation by Roger and Waneta Reynolds of
Chicago, IL, and St. Petersburg, FL. Mr. Reynolds was a staff member of MHMA in the
late 1950’s and early 1960’s and was the Standards Director who wrote the
original ANSI standards for the the industry. |
 |
|
|
Inductees in the 1999 class for the RV/MH Hall of Fame
|
 |
 |
| BobTiffin |
Dusty
Crum |
|
Bob Tiffin, Tiffin Motor Homes, Red Bay, AL
Bob Tiffin, founder
of Tiffin Motor Homes, was one of 12 inductees in the 1999 class for the RV/MH Hall of
Fame during ceremonies at the annual Hall of Fame dinner recently in Elkhart, IN.
Tiffin, a 25-year RVIA member, was a pioneer in the use of
steel skirting below he floor in motorhomes as a basis from which to hang the exterior
skin. Bob is recognized as a champion for customer satisfaction and service. He is nationally recognized by his customers,
dealers, and fellow manufacturers as a leader in the areas of excellence in employee,
customer and dealer relationships. His
nomination to the hall of fame was originated by support from his consumers.
Dusty Crum, Dusty’s Camper
World, Bartow, FL
An RV retailer since 1967, Dusty was instrumental
in the formation of what has now become the Florida RV Trade Association and is a 15 year
leader of that association. He now has three
generations of his family involved in his dealership and his son and grandson are both now
state association officers. He is a 20-year
national association member. Dusty’s
Camper World has always been recognized as a service oriented dealership and has received
recognition as a top representative of three major manufacturers. |
 |
 |
| Bobby Vincent |
Lawrence M. Coss |
Bobby Vincent, Suburban Manufacturing
Co., Dayton, TN
He is
recognized by the industry as a heating pioneer, and was the first to use permanent magnet
motors, and piezo electronic ignition in RV furnaces.
Bobby developed a one-piece vent cap that was revolutionary in RV furnaces. His promotion of DSI ignition eliminated the use
of standing pilots in RV furnaces and has grown into major use in water heaters and
refrigerators. He also introduced aluminum
ranges for RVs. A leading proponent of gas
appliance safety in RVs, he has served as chairman of the Heating Technical Committee of
RVIA and three terms on its board of directors. Among the others honored for their contributions
to the development of the two industries were:
Lawrence
M. Coss, Greentree Financial Corp., St. Paul, MN
A recognized
leader in the development of RV and Manufactured Housing financing programs, Larry changed
the way RVs and homes were financed by providing non-recourse loans to retailers, thus
making finance programs available to both large and small dealers nation wide. His company was the first to issue asset backed
loans on industry products, making financing available to a much wider base of customers. In addition, he assured that the finance industry
would be actively represented in all state and national associations by promoting the
involvement of his personnel in association work. |
 |
 |
| Dennis Dukes |
Ben Layton |
Dennis Dukes, Rawsonville Woods,
Belleville, MI
A 30-year member of the Michigan Manufactured
Housing Association, including 14 years on the board of directors, Dennis has served as
both chairman and association delegate to the National Manufactured Housing Federation. He has been identified as the conscience of the
Michigan association. As a housing community
and campground operator, he has served as a governor’s appointee to the Michigan
Manufactured Housing Commission for 15 years. He has been Michigan MHA PAC chairman and
raised over one million dollars for its efforts. Dennis
was on the ground floor in the organization of the Midwest Manufactured housing
Federation, which operates the Louisville Manufactured Housing Show.
Ben Layton, Layton Homes, Rocky Mount,
NC
Ben has been associated with manufactured
housing since 1955 in the finance, retail, and community development areas. He was one of the organizers and a charter member
of the board of directors of the North Carolina Manufactured Housing Association and is a
28- year member of the association. Ben
played a large part in the establishment of the North Carolina manufactured housing PAC. A
leading developer of land-home sub divisions since 1974, he has been a retailer of
multi-section homes since 1961.
 |
 |
| Mervin Lung |
W.E. (Ed) Mitchell |
Mervin Lung, Patrick Industries,
Mishawaka, IN
Merv has been involved in the Manufactured Housing and RV
industries since 1941, and is a 20-year MHI member having served on both the finance
committee and board of governors. He founded
Patrick Industries in 1957, and introduced Gypsum board to the manufactured housing
industry. He also has been responsible for
the introduction of pre-finished paneling and many other components in common use today. He has served on the board of directors of Indiana
Vocational Tech State College, which trains thousands of industry workers, since 1980.
W.E. (Ed) Mitchell, Mascot Homes,
Gramling, SC
The founder of the South Carolina state
association and a 30-year member, having served in every leadership position, Mitchell was
also one of the organizers of the South East Manufactured Housing Institute in 1966, and
was an original board member of MHI following its creation by the merger of TCA, SEMHI,
and MHMA. He is a past MHI PAC chairman. He is one of the three original members of
Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform and is credited with many industry
innovations including being the first HUD code manufacturer in South Carolina. Ed was the
driving force behind the creation of the South Carolina Manufactured Housing board, which
regulates and licenses the industry in his state.
 |
 |
| Leff Moore |
Leroy Ted Weinhold |
Leff Moore, West Virginia Manufactured
Housing Association
Described as “the big guy with a big heart” Leff
is the 29-year executive director and lobbyist of the West Virginia MHA. He has built the acceptance of manufactured
housing in his state to the position that it is now the primary source for new homes in
West Virginia. He is past chairman of the
national Manufactured Housing Executive Council and is considered the “dean” of
association executives. Leff often serves as
a sounding board and counsel for his colleagues in other state associations. He is also the founder and director of the West
Virginia RV Association. He has batted 1,000
as a lobbyist, never having lost on legislation that was good for his industry.
Leroy Ted Weinhold, Terra Enterprises,
Tucson, AZ
Ted is a 20-year representative to the National
Manufactured Housing Federation for the Arizona association and was the National
Federation chairman in 1984 - 85. Under his
leadership, the federation became a major influence on the national scene for a wide-range
of legislation and regulations. Having been
twice elected president of the Arizona state association, he is the governor’s
appointee to the Arizona Board of Housing. He
served on the committee to consolidate the five separate Arizona associations relating to
manufactured housing into one functioning body.
 |
| Walter E. Wells |
Walter E. Wells, Schult Homes,
Middlebury, IN
A 33-year industry veteran, Wally is past chairman of MHI,
and has served two terms as MHI Technical Activities Committee Chairman. Having become president of his company in 1973, he
led the development of the first HUD code two-story home.
Wally is a recognized long-time proponent of industry construction and safety
standards. Wally also becomes the first
second generation member of the RV/MH Hall of Fame, following his father, Walter O. Wells,
who was honored in 1974.
Stan Plumlee, Stan’s Home
Center, Jackson, TN (not pictured)
From his base as a small retailer and industry activist,
Stan is a 20-year board member of the Tennessee Manufactured Housing Association. He led the campaign to force legislation, which
allows multi-section homes to be set into any residential area in Tennessee. He also spearheaded the legislation to get sales
tax reduced by half on manufactured homes in his state, and negotiated the law allowing
16-foot-wide homes on Tennessee highways. He
also represented Tennessee on the national Manufactured Housing Federation.
 |
Arthur J. Decio |
The inductions were held before a crowd of over 350 RV and
manufactured housing industry leaders. The
key-note speaker for the evening was Arthur J. Decio, chairman of the board of Skyline
Corporation.
This class brings to 198 the
number of industry pioneers honored since the Hall of Fame was founded in 1972.
The RV/MH Heritage Foundation
maintains the national Hall of Fame for the RV and Manufactured Housing industry as well
as a museum of antique units dating from 1913, and an archival library with over 8,000
volumes of industry related literature at their Elkhart headquarters.
