This week started on a sad note for the AGRR industry. This very morning we saw the death of longtime industry expert Frank Levesque.

Levesque, 72, retired in June 2015 after more than five decades in the industry, most recently serving as Director of Product Development and Technical Services at Glass Doctor University.

Tommy Patterson, director of technical services at Glass Doctor, said when he received the call Monday morning that Levesque had passed “I was devastated.”

“I can’t even begin to explain the void. I can’t put it into words, ”Patterson says of the loss of his 40-year-old friend.

Patterson and Levesque worked together in the 1980s at Portland Glass, in the early 2000s at Pilkington, and more recently at Glass Doctor. “So Frank and I have worked together a lot throughout our lives. Frank was one of my closest friends, ”Patterson says.

So close that Patterson got married in Lévesque’s living room.

Patterson says Lévesque called him a week ago. “In fact, he couldn’t wait to get home,” Patterson said. However, Levesque’s wife Crystal called Patterson Sunday morning to tell him that her husband had taken “a turn for the worse.”

“[Frank] told me he hadn’t been so sick in his life, ”Patterson says of the illness. Lévesque was in good health before this illness, and “none of us expected it.”

“Probably the closest thing I have had from a brother all my life. I will miss him very much, ”said Patterson.

In recognition of his retirement in 2015, Levesque spoke to glassBYTES and predicted a change to come in the auto glass industry.

“Once we install a windshield in the vehicle, the vehicle often has to return to the dealership to be recalibrated. One day, the glass industry will have a device so that we can perform the recalibrations before returning the vehicle to the customer, ”said Lévesque in 2015.

During his 51 years in the industry, he worked for Soule Glass, Demers Plate Glass, Portland Glass, Equalizer, Fein Power Tools, Pilkington and Glass Doctor.

He started in the industry at the age of 15 when his neighbor, a sales manager for a glass company, asked him why he hadn’t found a job.

Lévesque said he said to the neighbor, “Why don’t you give me some? He worked summers from 1964 and went to work with his neighbor because he did not yet have a driver’s license. Levesque told glassBYTES.com in 2015 that he cleaned the toilets, mopped the floors and learned the trade. Mobile working was far into the future. The windshields were installed about twice a day. Cardboard designs were used to cut out the windshields and side windows.

He has devoted his career to training and safety.

Upon retirement, Levesque told glassBYTES.com he looks forward to a quiet fishing life. “I live to fish. I have a sign that says I was born to fish and forced to work. I’m not planning anything else, we’ll just see what happens.

Lévesque is survived by his wife of over 20 years, Crystal.

GlassBYTES also regrets having to share the news of the sudden passing of Brenda Boehmer, wife of Dan Boehmer, President of Rolladeck Industries Inc. She passed away in her sleep on August 20.

At the time of going to press, funeral arrangements had not been announced for any of the deceased.
To learn more about Frank Levesque, click here.