East mourns death of CEO, co-owner Booher
East on Wednesday announced that Howard Booher, chief executive, co-founder and co-owner died on March 14.
Booher co-founded East in 1968 with Mark Tate and Robert Bruce, where he was CEO for 54 years. He co-owned the company alongside Bruce, who recently became CEO.
“Words cannot express the loss of our friend and colleague,” said Bruce. “Howard made an impact in the lives of not only his family but his employees, vendors and customers. We will miss his leadership and technical and engineering expertise. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
In 1968, Booher went from dairy farm to trailer manufacturer, when he began East.
Booher designed its first sludge pusher trailer in 1978 and refuse transfer pusher trailer in 1980. East brought the first aluminum flatbed, the BST, to market in 1982. The next year, Booher built one of the first Walking Floor Refuse Transfer trailers. By 1990, the first drop deck came on the scene followed by the MMX flatbed trailer in 2002.
In 2001, Booher invented the smooth-sided East Genesis design for the dump and construction industry.
Booher saw East through 20 expansions from its initial 7,200-sq-ft headquarters, built in 1968, to over 127 acres with 450,000-sq-ft of manufacturing and building space today. From its original 10 employees in 1968, East now employs more than 500 employees.
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Howard was a great success but he was also a great person and friend. He cared about his community and bought all the flowers you see on 44 and up Waterloo Road in Randolph. He also funded countless Christmas lights not to mention bleachers for the school, and letting the Lions Club use the Barn for their wood cutting and money raising ventures. He called me many times just to see how I and the township were doing. His concern for his employees, and community were something that made him very special to me. He helped the Fire Department whenever he could and talked to me endlessly about his farm and the projects that was going on there. He loved East but he really loved his FARM! He took me for a tour of his farm and it was a great day for me. Since my son knows Marty he talked about his son and how awesome Marty’s children are and how fast the boy could run! I wish Howard could have had more years, so that with all he has done for everyone else, he could have enjoyed his beautiful family and awesome group of grandchildren for years to come. I am going to miss him. My world just got smaller and friend I cared about so much and I believe cared about me is no longer just a phone call away. However, I bet he has his eyes from the sky on his family, farm and East. All of which he was very proud of. I am thankful for him and all he did for Randolph. God bless you Howard and all of your family.