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Past Presidents: Where are They Now? Tom Eckinger Continued from page 6 me in my career. All the friendships I have made with other members, and especially other Board members, have been invaluable to me," commented Eckinger. "Tom was elected President the same year I was elected to the Board," recalls Gene Colley, SCDP, LEEP AP, President of Royal Seal Companies, Inc. "He was tested by fire when his first duty was to appoint three board members to replace three that had special circumstances that required them to resign. He did a great job of handling the stress of everything and didn't let his golf game suffer." The RCA has benefited Eckinger both personally and professionally, sometimes at the same time. "After I lost my father in 1997, I had a big void in my life personally and especially professionally," Eckinger recollects. "For the first time I had nobody to turn to when faced with business decisions and problems. As my relationship with people like Bill Winkel, Win Johnson, Barry Shames, and especially Dean Olivieri developed, I was able to fill most of the void professionally by talking with them. This was very important to my personal development in business. As far as the void personally, that was filled by all the great memories I had of my dad that will live forever." Eckinger has seen the industry evolve over the years. He commented that it has become more complex with licensing, permitting, and inspection requirements, along with general bureaucracy that can sometimes cripple the process. Technology has made it so that people are never away from the business, which is not always the best for people personally. Years ago, when Eckinger, Shames, and Olivieri had a conversation about how they needed to get in front of upcoming technology, Shames told them about the world wide web, and they initially thought he was just making stuff up! Eckinger has developed an incredibly great friendship with his fellow RCA past presidents. The Eckinger, Olivieri, and Shames families recently vacationed together at the Shames' home in Hawaii. "Tom and I grew up in the same small town of Canton, OH, and worked in our respective family businesses, but never met until we were both at a RCA meeting." explains Olivieri, who is President of Fred Olivieri Construction. "One of my favorite stories is Tom showing up for a horseback ride in shorts and golf shoes. The best part was when he walked up and hopped on the horse like nothing was wrong." Olivieri continued, "Tom did a great job on the board and as the President of RCA. He often passes off the credit he deserves, but the RCA is a better organization because of his contributions." Shames, Chairman of Shames Construction, shared a story about his friendship with Eckinger: "Last year when Dean Olivieri's oldest daughter got married, Tom picked up us and a few other out-of-town guests and drove us to the church. Knowing we would have some time before the ceremony began, Tom and his wife prepared a nice wine and cheese pre-ceremony party in his van in the church parking lot. It was priceless, especially when Dean arrived and saw what was going on in the van." Another past president, Bob Benda, President and CEO of Westwood Contractors, Inc., shared a great story about Eckinger. "Tom is a passionate golfer and aviator. A number of years ago, we held a summer board meeting at the Broadmoor Resort in Colorado Springs, CO. During a golf outing we had planned for the group, Tom and I were paired together on the same cart. On one particular tee box, when it was Tom's turn to hit, he stepped to the ball with his driver, took a mighty swing, as only Tom can do, and pull-shanked the ball directly into the back of our golf cart, which was parked perpendicular to the tee markers! Fortunately all the golfers in our foursome had played with Tom previously, so all were well behind the box and there were no injuries. However, after Tom took his mulligan (as the ball had completely disappeared from sight in some unknown direction, adequate justification for a do-over in Tom's view), we returned to the cart only to discover that Tom's ball had struck the shaft of my 3 wood in my bag and completely snapped the head from the shaft! Upon further investigation, the ball was found in the bottom of my bag (see picture) and I have kept it ever since as a reminder to always stand well behind Tom when he has a driver in his hand!" In his free time, Eckinger can be found on the water or in the air. He has been a pilot for over 35 years, and has flown 15 different models of planes—from single-engine piston planes to two-engine jets—and nearly 6,000 hours as pilot in command. The planes have been used primarily for business and humanitarian needs. He has flown over 100 flights for Angel Flight (angelflight.com), an organization of pilots who donate their planes and time to fly patients in need. Eckinger has flown flights ranging from infants being transported to hospitals for organ transplants to cancer patients needing specialized treatments. Eckinger also loves to fish, golf, and work with wood. He and his wife Nancy have five children: Phil, Jeremy, Greg, Julie (Hollingsworth), and Jeff. They also enjoy their four grandchildren, Ethan, Dylan, Lilly, and Franklin. The RCA thanks Eckinger for his hard work, enthusiasm, and dedication to the association, the industry, and his community. Next Issue: James D. Healy, Healy Construction Services, Inc. Don't miss our CCRP event in Dallas on March 14, 2013! For information on joining Commercial Construction & Renovation People, contact Membership Director Kristen Corson at kristenc@ccr-people.com. If you would like to sponsor a CCRP event, please contact David Corson at davidc@ccr-mag.com 7