Grandpa taught character strength
By Bryan Painter
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Published: December 11, 2008
In this file photo from Kimray Inc. are David Hill, vice president of operations for Kimray, from left, the late Garman Kimmell Jr., Tom Hill, president and Thomas Hill III, vice president of manufacturing. PHOTO PROVIDED BY KIMRAY INC.
The straight black coffee was just right.
It’s the statement from
Thomas Hill III that I found to be strong.
My intention was to discuss the accomplishments of
Garman O. Kimmell Jr. with his grandson over a cup of coffee. The discussion, though, turned to all the things Kimmell might have accomplished if he’d had the time.
"He died with a file cabinet full of things he had not developed,” Hill said. "He was one of those guys that had more ideas than he would ever know what to do with.”
He had more ideas? That is a very strong statement when you consider just a little of the tremendous lot Kimmell did accomplish in his 95 years of life.
He founded Kimray, a company that manufactures oil and gas equipment and controls. During the oil bust of the 1980s, instead of laying employees off, he loaned them to organizations.
Kimmell invented the Vena-Cava Filter, a device inserted into a major vein to prevent a blood clot from entering the lungs.
He recorded the
Oklahoma City Philharmonic for replay on the radio for about 30 years.
And, his values played a major part in son-in-law Tom Hill’s creation of the internationally-known
Character First Institute, intended to promote "true success in businesses, schools, families and communities by encouraging good character.”
Kimmell died Nov. 8, but considering what he accomplished and considering the ideas he left behind, the lifespan of his contributions is unknown.
"Maybe some day we’ll get around to try to work up some of those ideas if we can figure out what he was talking about,” said Hill, Kimmell’s grandson and Tom Hill’s son. "Garman was a genius.”
For now, they’re busy with what he did start.
Kimray is celebrating its 60th anniversary. The accomplishments are many, but let’s rewind to the oil bust. Focus for a second on Kimmell’s decision to farm employees out to different organizations while continuing to pay their salary.
"He was more concerned about their stability and their families and them making it through than he was about Kimray making money,” he said.
"We depleted our bank account doing that. He knew that was going to happen. But it played out very well for us. It was not only the right thing, it was very smart. When things picked back up we were the first company out of the gate.”
What defeated others simply posed challenges to the 1937
University of Oklahoma petroleum engineering graduate.
And that’s where Hill links his grandfather and father,
Tom Hill.
He was Kimmell’s son-in-law, but the bond between the two was that of father and son.
Tom Hill founded the Character First Institute essentially from what he learned from Kimmell.
At one time Kimray was battling human resource issues such as dependability. Tom Hill decided most of those problems were character-related and started the character-driven program.
"Garman was classical both in his ideas and his attitudes and his education,” his grandson said. "And it used to be that a much larger piece of society was the same way.”
Society drifted away from that.
Hill believes his father was able to recognize that because he’d lived and worked with a man who was the blueprint of good character.
"We already knew what we were looking for,” he said, "because we had seen it in Garman.”
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