Stanley Williams Jr., age 89, Passed Away Quietly at Home May 24, 2012
Beloved husband for over 66 years of Doris Williams, dearest father of Kelly Ann (deceased), Kim Alan Williams, his Wife Coleen, grandfather of Mark A Williams, his wife Judy, and great grandfather of Heaven, Audrey and Tristan.
After returning home from the Marine Corps in 1946, Stan founded Wilco Die-Tool Machine Co in 1949, and then added Wilco Molding Inc. in 1975. And had another expansion with the acquisition of an automation Company in 2008. The business grew and was moved four times to their current address in Maryland Heights.
A Memorial service will be held June 8th, 2012 at Life Church St Louis, 15036 Clayton Rd., Chesterfield, MO. With visitation from 9:00am till 10:00am and a service held at 10:00am. Immediately after the Memorial service a celebration of his life will be held at Wilco, 2435 Rock Island Blvd, Maryland Heights, MO.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to Shriners Hospital, 2001 South Lindbergh, St. Louis, MO. or Life Church St. Louis, 15036 Clayton Rd. Chesterfield MO. 63017.
WILCO COMPANIES' HISTORY
Stanley Williams, Jr., was honorably discharged from the Marine Air Corps in 1946 with plans to get back into the tool and die business. After his marriage To Doris in 1946, Stan and Doris started planning. Her earnings went into savings and into equipment investments for the future shop.
In 1949, after 3 years of working for others, Stan quit his job and went to work full time in his parents' garage, his first "shop." About two years later, Stan bought and moved into a store front building at Belt Avenue and St. Louis Ave, just around the corner from their garage shop.
Stan's father then joined the business around 1951. He primarily handled metal stamping dies, which were his specialty. In later years this die work slowed to a trickle, while tools for plastic injection molding grew greater. Stan's father still continued to work in the shop even after retiring and until his death in 1976.
Meanwhile, in 1955, the shop at Belt Avenue grew by buying the lot next to it and adding on to the building. The shop continued to grow, so in 1964 Stan had the forethought to scout out other properties in the St. Louis area to handle future growth. They found the property at 2430 Northline Industrial Ave in what would later be Maryland Heights, MO. Although they purchased the land in 1964, building did not start until 1970.
Just a few years after building was complete in 1974, there was a disastrous fire which almost destroyed the building. Immediately after this tragedy, all of the employees rallied and put in a tremendous amount of work to get the place put back together. The equipment and building were rebuilt while work continued on even without a roof at times. Two and a half months after the fire not only was the building rebuilt and back in full swing but an addition was added on as well. This addition was to later become the plastic injection molding shop.
By 1976, 2 new plastic injection molding machines were moved in and Wilco Molding, Inc. was established. Stan and Doris' son Kim was training as a tool and mold maker but when the molding operation started his focus was put on that. He became the molding manager and he seemed to have a natural talent in working with plastics. Under his management and effort the business grew strong.
In 1991, Stan added on to the building again to accommodate the growing molding operation. In 1994, the molding operation had grown to 13 machines and the building next door was purchased to help accommodate the overflow of work.
In 2001, the operation continued to grow and Stan purchased another larger building, 2435 Rock Island Blvd, directly behind his current 2 buildings. The new building was completely refurbished inside and out. In 2004, the office moved into the new building with the Molding Operation moving in shortly after and then Tool and Die. One of the buildings was then leased out to an automation company and the front half of the other leased to an equipment company while the remaining space was used for storage.
In 2008, Wilco bought out the automation company that was leasing their one building and renamed it Wilco Automation, LLC. This was a natural extension of the other 2 companies and fit in to the company structure perfectly.
In 2011, Wilco consolidated and updates its Die-Tool-Machine Shop along with the Automation operation into one building. This improved both efficiency and quality which was also helped with the purchase several new pieces of equipment.
Also, in 2011, Wilco came out with its first proprietary product, the Brush Vest. The Brush Vest is a paint brush cover/protector. With the idea from Kim and Stan funding it, Wilco now entered into the paint sundry retail market.
WILCO FAMILY of COMPANIES ARTICLE
"Mid-America Commerce & Industry April, 2011"
The trio of companies evolved over the years and include: Wilco Die-Tool-Machine Co.; Wilco Molding, Inc. and Wilco Automation LLC. All three firms are ISO-certified.
Wilco Die-Tool-Machine was the original company founded in 1951 by Stan Williams, Jr., in his father's garage. It designs and builds injection molds (for 55-500-ton molders) from small, unit style insert molds to complicated, multi-slide tools with hot manifolds. Its full-service tool shop features both manual and CNC equipment as well as EDMs and CMM.
Wilco Molding was founded in 1975. It offers injection molding in an extensive array of resins (standard to engineering grade) in a climate- controlled environment.
It has 17 injection molders (55-500-ton capacity) Part of the operation features a certified ISO Class 8 clean room which has been ISO certified for several years..
Wilco Automation was formed when it acquired an existing automation company in 2008 as a natural extension of the other two companies.
Wilco provides turnkey operations including prototyping, design, tool building, plastic injection molding, assembly, packaging and certified clean-rooms. It also can produce automation machinery, test equipment, jigs, fixtures and gages.
"We can take a project all the way through engineering, design, prototyping, tooling, molding assembly and packaging," stated Kim Williams, general manager and son of Stan Williams Jr. "We strive to be a one-stop shop."
The companies serve a diverse group of industries worldwide including: aerospace, consumer, electronic, medical, appliances, automotive, packaging, and commercial products.
Today the group operates in facilities with 36,000-sq.-ft. of space with 26 employees.
As he considered the 60-year history of the companies and the involvement of four generations of his family, Stan Williams stated, "We have always focused on quality. Our tooling requires minimal maintenance and that benefits our customers. We take that approach with all our work."
The Wilco family of companies can be contacted at: (314) 872-9252; Fax (314) 872-3017; 2435 Rock Island Blvd., Maryland Heights, Missouri 63043; www.wilcomolding.com
