During their annual membership meeting in Las Vegas in late March, AMOA paid tribute to the late association past president Don Hesch, who served in 1998 and passed away on Jan. 14. They said Hesch “was pivotal in guiding the association through some serious and unprecedented challenges in the late ‘90s.”
Former AMOA executive vice president Jack Kelleher was invited to the gathering to deliver a fitting tribute to the late past president. Hesch and past president Jim Stansfield (1999) hired Kelleher as the association’s staff lead to help address and eventually overcome the challenges faced by the then 50-year-old association.
“Don made such a profound and long-lasting impact – not only on this now 76-year-old trade association and countless individuals in the industry – but his family, of course, his legion of friends and me,” Kelleher said.
The most recent past president, Luke Adams, expressed at the event: “Had it not been for Don Hesch – and Jim Stansfield – AMOA may not be standing here today serving as a relevant and primary voice of this great industry. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the late Mr. Hesch and Mr. Stansfield, who stood for us when we were at our weakest. They are perfect examples of what it means to be operators as well as respected leaders of the AMOA.”