The Rochester I Know; Ritter Shumway

A xxi presents The Rochester I Know, a series of interviews with notable residents of Monroe County and contributors to this area's rich history. Your host is William Pierce. Hello and welcome to The Rochester I know. My guest today is F. Ritter Shumway, former chairman of the Sybron Corporation. He is a prominent Rochester philanthropist, industrialist, yachtsman and accomplished figure skater. Ritter, Welcome to the Rochester you know. And today that's what we'd like to talk about. You're one of the uh few people I think in this series who was actually born in Rochester and grew up here, and I know you were born right after the turn of the century - 19 0 6 [6] Do I have it right ? I can't believe you're still ice skating as beautifully as you are having been born in 1906 con gratulations. Uh, I'm sure you don't remember much about 1906, but the period right after that and prior to World War One, what kind of a community was it that you recall growing up in?

[guest] Of course it was quite different. The flour mills were still here the shoe factories were still here. I remember going out to the site of the present airport and seeing my first airplane flying. It was right where it is today although a lot smaller.] [hm hm] And uh of course Kodak was here. Um uh Mr. Eastman was alive. And uh Kodak Kodak was a very prominent company. Uh I guess it was really still at that time THE company of Rochester. [At that time you mean you're talking about the 1915 16 17 they were?] [guest][Yes I was actually thinking of a little bit earlier than that maybe 1912 to 14 in that area.] [host] [But Rochester was uh shoe manufacturing at that time.] [guest] Yes indeed.] [host}And clothing manufacturing.] [Yes.] [host]You've seen the change from those kinds of industries to the industries that you were associated with later on and we'll

get to those in a minute, but you left to go away to college in the early 20s?] [guest] Yes. Actually my family moved to New York City in 1916 and I was there and went to grammar school, finished grammar school in New York. Then I went to Hotchkiss Preparatory School, boarding school and from there I went to Princeton and I graduated from Princeton in 1928. Then I went to Oxford and uh took another B.A. which eventually turned into an M.A. at Oxford University in England.] [host] [What was your main course of study there?] [guest] In England?] [Yes] [Divinity. I was studying because I had by that time felt that I had been called to the ministry in the Presbyterian Church.] [And And you you became a minister. And uh I wanted you to tell us a little about that experience and

where and and when you left and and why and when you came back to Rochester. That isn't asking too much.] [Well, I um (clears throat) was the um assistant pastor in the Larchmont Avenue Presbyterian Church in Larchmont, New York which is a New York suburb, and um ah in 1934 I was asked by the session of the church to return the following year. But uh they said they didn't want me to preach on certain subjects that I had uh talked about in the past. And I said I'm sorry, but I can't accede to that. And at that same moment] [host] you remember what those subjects were [guest] no, I'm sorry I don't [host] Whatever they were they were considered what, revolutionary at the time?] [guest] Well, they were disturbing to the congregation. Uh, the, At the same time things transpired in the Ritter company which uh showed

me that uh instead of the cons concept that I'd had at the time that I decided to go into the ministry was not true. Namely I had thought that my family had sold the business the way you sell an automobile and somebody takes it away and that's the last you ever see of it.] [Th The Ritter company is owned by your family at the time.] [At this time yes. It was founded by my grandfather and carried on by my mother. and uh She was the chief executive in 19 18 19 20 in those years, which is really quite remarkable because the women didn't even have a vote in that era] [ and she was the CEO of the Ritter] [yes] Company [she was] She went to the office every day and uh was really running it. But uh then I found uh that through these

circumstances that we still uh owned a large very large (unintelligible) about 55 percent of the common stock of the company and that I would have responsibility for the company someday because there are certain responsibilities that ownership cannot avoid. And I felt that I that I had to come back to Rochester to the business to discharge those opportunities or those responsibilities responsibly, knowing the business and knowing and understanding the business world [Not unlike like being minister to a flock] [Not unlike. And I performed marriage ceremonies for many of the employees over the years.] [host] Now, tha that was in what year, Ritter?] [guest] 1934] [host] 34] [ November one 1934] [host] You came back to work for the company?] [guest] yes [host] or did you come back to to run the company? [guest] No, no No. I came back.

I uh to learn the company and I uh started in the accounting department and uh] [You came back in the middle of the Depression.] So that's right] [ It could not have been very great times.] That's right the um general manager of the company at the time a called me down to his office about 2 weeks and after I'd been there about two weeks and asked me whether I was satisfied with my pay I said, Pay? I don't get any pay why should I be paid I'm not contributing anything I'm a drain on the company I'm just learning." He said, "Oh no no no you must be paid. I'll pay you twenty dollars a week." So, that was a big deal [host] in 19 [host] 1934 [guest] That's where I started. [host] Tha That's the um Ritter company at that time had about how many employees? [guest] Well, at that [Well, at that moment that was the bottom of the Depression. only perhaps 300 employees maybe not that many I don't remember exactly. But um uh as time went on and

we came out of the Depression and World War II came, went up to something like 2000 during World War II and uh then it settled back after the war and to about 800 to a thousand to a thousand employees which was pretty standard for us those days in the 50s.] [And you became the president of that corporation in [1953] [1953 were about a thousand employees. [guest]Yes I'm as I recall it's about that. [host] Now somewhere along the line there was a decision made to uh put that company together together with some other local Rochester companies and form a company called Sybron corporation that you became the chief executive officer of. [guest] correct [host] part of the industrial growth of this community and I wonder if you could spend a couple minutes telling us how that came about and why. [Guest] Well I [guest] uh in 1957 um I had an opportunity to purchase a company in a

the area of Cincinnati, Liebel Flarsheim (?). They were in uh the medical business. We had a medical line as well as a dental line and in the Ritter company. It was a fine opportunity so we purchased the company and that led a to purchasing another company in Detroit, the Kerr Manufacturing Company, and then to another company uh in Minneapolis, uh the uh [MF Patterson] dental supply company. And uh then the Castle Company uh wa approached me and [Host]that was a local? company? [Guest] Oh yes yes very much so. Their offices at that time, I believe they had just moved from University Avenue to their present site uh near Jefferson Rd. Road uh on uh route 15A. Ah.

So that was the company we had uh at uh by 1959. No, '59 is when we acquired Castle. by 1965. And uh then the Pfaudler Permutit people came to me and talked about the possibility of a merger.[Host] Wha- What did they manufacture? [Host]Uh they manufactured uh Pfaudler manufactured uh glass lined tanks for the process industries uh for food processing and chemical processing anything that needed uh something that required the cleanliness or the cleanability of glass instead of being exposed to steel] [m hm] [ which would corrode or put uh impurities into the product. Uh Then Permutit company made the water softeners and things like that. So uh to make a long

story short we merged. It was a true merger because our stocks were selling within about $2 of each other at the time of the actual actual merger. That became Ritter Pfaudler Company. Then in 1968 uh we um uh acquired the Taylor Instrument Taylor Instrument Companies, and by that time we had expanded considerably. We had acquired the Nalgene Company here in Rochester and we had uh a grown to quite a substantial company. At that time they felt that uh that uh the Ritter Pfaudler name was not good because it identified the company with only two of its divisions and Pfaudler was a very difficult name to pronounce [Host laughs] and very difficult to spell for most people.So we had decided prior to the acquisition of Taylor [clears throat] to change to uh change the name and we had gone to a computer

and the computer spat out 200,000 combinations of [coughs] 6 letters and uh change [Host] You had you had already resolved the fact you wanted a 6 letter name name for the company? [Guest] Yes, we quickly We quickly rejected (unintelligible) XXVI. Q and that sort of combination and had it boiled down a through quite a process to either Roboron or Sybron. Then we went to the Berlitz School and I asked them if there uh either 1 of those names had perhaps a naughty meaning in a foreign language [Host]Because you were in foreign countries. [Guest] Oh yes, very much so. We were even back in the old Ritter days we were in many different countries. Uh They said in Spanish, if you reduce roboron into its components, robo and ron, it means I steal rum. [Host laughing] [Guest] and we didn't think that was quite appropriate.

On the other hand, they said Sybron had no connotations of any sort like that in any foreign language and it seemed like a nice a modern uh name that indicated uh a product that was modern that was modern, up to date uh and was a fine quality I think I should go back for just 1 minute to say that that my recollection of Rochester in the early days my youth uh my recollections were that it was a uh pretty well dominated by companies that that manufactured to high quality and therefore the type of worker that we had in the city were an unusual type uh that was of a more intelligent and better type of person than unfortunately for

Buffalo with their mass uh steel production and that sort of thing. [Host] Wh- Why do you think that it's true about Rochester even though we gone through many apparently many different kinds of skilled trades from a flour milling city to shoes to clothing as you indicated earlier. [Guest] Yes, [Host] and that seems to be gone and and now uh your the companies that you you put together all seem to be quite highly specialized companies. [Guest] Yes well [Host]Why di- why did that happen in Rochester?][Guest]Well, there were Well, there were thr-three outstanding companies in Rochester in those days that had started here and were very dominant. One I've mentioned is Eastman Kodak Eastman Kodak of course, another is Bausch and Lomb, another was the Gleason Works. Another was the Gleason Works, and all of those companies were concerned with high skills in the production of their goods and um I think that that is one of the reasons why Rochester has been rather a unique

city from the very beginning almost. [Host]the Ritter company uh Ritter uh did you you think you made all the right decisions decisions in putting that company together with the other companies and uh has everything worked out the way you hoped it would?[Guest] Well yes and no. [Well yes and no. Uh Of course uh I admit that uh I am sorry to see the Ritter Company moved out of Rochester Ritter company moved out of Rochester. uh I understand in the last year or 2. I retired 12 years ago. And I. [Host] You wouldn't know it from watching you skate.We'll get to that in a minute. [Laughs] [Guest]I guess [Host]. OK. A the um The uh I - I of course was sorry to uh see this happen. I can there were reasons in the trade which I still know quite

well uh that they needed to move the manufacturing to the uh North Carolina to the Taylor facility there which which was available. But I am disappointed that they moved the administration, finance, customer service, engineering to a new dental center in Chicago but that's been done, and a of course I'm sorry about it but that's what I guess that's life [Host]You have a large stake in this community [that's my stake in this community Ritter, you've seen the certain way (not sure of this line) of events from almost the turn of the century to the present day. Are there any specific events or people who made events happen that stand out in your mind over the years that anything come along that changed the nature of the city? A substantially. It seems to me to me there'd been kind of a almost a logical development. [Guest]Well, actually there are

[indistnct]there are so many people ah that I can't begin to recall or to mention all of them. Ah George Eastman really George Eastman really was a very strong force to that end and uh he was supported by other people that were like like minded the Bausches and the Lombs and the Gleasons. And uh. [Host]Do you do you think we've lost some of that uh leadership today? leadership today?] [ Kodak doing a fine job uh among other companies have come along. Xerox has been a very good citizen and uh has done many things that were excellent for the community. And there are many other compaines companies that uh have come along. I think that the spirit I think that the spirit of community interest

all of the business uh careers or the business life of Rochester is still very strong. I think that the United Way uh contributes to that the way the United Way is supported and not only the United Way, but many many other fine community activities and community development, And I think that that spirit still stays and is very strong today in Rochester and is one of the things that makes Rochester what it is today. [Ritter, if we started to recite the litany of all the awards and accomplishments that you've made and been involved in over the years we would go on for an hour. We know you not only We we know you not only have an outstanding reputation locally, but statewide and nationally. You work in such organizations

as National Chamber of Commerce, the state wide. But I do know that a couple of your own uh special interests involve ice skating not only not only here locally but worldwide and uh and power boating and I'd like to just go to ice skating for a minute because I know this is an important part of your life now and you've contributed so much much to aspiring figure skaters that it shouldn't go unmentioned. You You became uh president of the National Figure Skating Organization about what year was that? [Guest] [I became the acting president in January of 1961 late January January ah because I was the first vice president at the time and the president died so a our constitution provided that the first vice president moved up to the presidency. And it was 3 weeks after And it was three weeks after I'd become the acting president occurred in Belgium in which we lost all of our 1961 world figure skating team

in which we lost all of our 1961 world figure skating team plus coaches, officials, family, friends, 34 people all together. [Host] Incredible. [Guest] and my associates at the time felt with me that the best way that we could memorialize those skaters a would be by establishing a memorial fund a which we did. And as time went on, the memorial fund had sort of come along all right, but all right but it fell into disinterested hands and when I retired from Sybron, I was asked if I would become the chairman of the Memorial Fund which I was very glad to do because I felt emotionally very close to those skaters that we lost and I didn't want their memories to be forgotten. And so I was very glad to do it.

At the same time, I discovered that our against uh skaters from other countries who were countries who were supported or subsidized by their governments in whole or in part. Now being a chamber of commerce type as you mentioned, I don't believe in government subsidies except under certain exceptional conditions and I certainly don't conditions and I certainly don't believe in government subsidies for amateur sports. And having that conviction and my associates having the same conviction uh we decided to go ahead and build up the memorial and build up the memorial fund to be of assistance to the skaters who were the successors to the ones whom we lost in the airplance accident airplane accident. And last year the memorial fund a assisted about 200 assisted about 200 skaters. We made

grants of over $200,000 and low interest loans of another $135,000. $135,000. And many of our world champions of today and our national champions have said publicly that but for the memorial fund, they would not have been able to continue in skating continue in skating and to develop their skills to the extent that they have become national and world champions.[Host] Well just an amazing record [Well just an amazing record and uh we know how devoted you are here to the Genesee Figure Skating Club right here in Rochester and uh how much, you know, they owe to I think how much, you know, they owe to I think to your help and and uh you brought along not to mention middle aged skaters.[Guest laughs] [Host] which I've skaters] [hahaha] [which I'll put you in the category of. We won't go uh that uh you've won in figure skating, but uh I, figure skating, but uh I, I forgot the number I know it's 15 or 20

Figure Skating Championships.[Guest]Well, not National because I skate [Well, not National because I skate in the adult uh dance have a national competition, but I have won over 50 gold metals gold medals and many uh awards not the least, and one of the very finest that I got by surprise was from Channel 21 from Channel 21 heh heh last November at the time of our show. That was great.] [Well, that was a privilege for us. One of your other hobbies is uh is power boating, and I think you started the first power boat squadron here in Rochester. Now I wonder if you could give us a little background on that and what] [yes] [ that has led to.] [Actually it's called the Power Squadrons, and a lot of people think that uh it is meant for power boaters, not for sailors. But I was and always have been basically a sailor, and I was the first chief commander

uh nationally to have been a sailboat man. Ah [Host] [hmm] [Guest] I had a two masted schooner at the time I was the chief commander, and I was very glad of that because I wanted to convey the impression that uh whether you use wind or whether you use gasoline or diesel fuel it's all power and the word Power Squadron does not limit it to power boats. [Host] [Ah] [Guest] Uh But it is applicable to anybody, and as a matter of fact, many of our members don't own a boat at all. The basic all. The basic purpose of the power squadrons uh piloting rules of the road, small boat handling, navigation, seamanship motor mechanics, electronics, motor mechanics, electronics, and all that sort of thing that every uh sailor, to use a broad term,

must know whether he sails in a power boat or sails in a sailboat. sailboat. [Host]Ritter, I don't know of anyone who has been so involved [Ritter, I don't know of anyone who has been so involved in this community for so long facets of the community, the business part of the community, the the social agency aspect of the community. The other uh I guess you could call recreational aspects aspects when we talk about boating and ice skating.skating. Uh Do you have any skating. Uh Do you have any thoughts about Rochester, its its going and a what would you like to see for the town? [Ritter] Rochester - [Host] Such a stake in it. [Ritter]Yes [Well, I think] [unintelligible] [Yes, I think Rochester has a great future and many people have asked me, "Why don't you move to Florida and get away from the Rochester winters?" Well, from the Rochester winters?" Well, I wouldn't want to get away from uh the winter of 1983,

but uh I am here because my roots are here and my friends are here, my connections are here and I think Rochester has because Rochester has moved into the newer fields especially Eastman Kodak has done a fine job of moving into fields in which uh the electronic in which uh the electronic world The age of the micro com- computer the microprocessor. It's appearing in their cameras and in many other products, and in many other products, and I think that and I believe that Rochester has the right background and foundation and atmosphere uh for the development of this new world. And I think it has a great future. [F. Ritter Shumway, thank you very

[F. Ritter Shumway, thank you very much. I'm Bill Pierce. Thank you for being with us on The Rochester I know. Join us next time. OK.