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Industry Legend Joe Kellman Passes Away
January 11, 2010
Legendary auto glass entrepreneur Joe Kellman passed away last Thursday
on his 90th birthday. (CLICK
HERE for related story about Kellman's 90th birthday.)
 Kellman
got his start in the glass industry at the age of 14 when he worked
at his father's small glass shop, Globe Glass. When his father died,
his brother Maury took over the manufacturing division of the business
and Kellman was given two small retail glass shops. The two shops
grew into what was at one time was the country's largest privately
owned auto glass chain.
The company also created what many say was the first nationwide
auto glass network, the Chicago-based Globe Glass/U.S. Glass Network.
Globe Glass merged with Windshields America in 1996, creating Vistar,
which merged with Safelite in 1997.
Kellman and his wife, Lou Anne, had retired to San Diego many years
ago.
In addition to his work in the glass industry, Kellman was known
for his charitable work. He founded the Chicago-based Better Boys
Foundation, a non-profit organization designed to help inner-city
children in the west side community of North Lawndale where he grew
up, in 1961 with his longtime friend and entertainer Buddy Hackett.
In 1988, Kellman founded the Corporate Community School of America
(now known as the Kellman Corporate Community School), also for
the North Lawndale community. Just two years ago, the Joe Kellman
Family Foundation helped to build a new community center, the Kellman
Community Center, in North Lawndale, to further the work of the
Better Boys Foundation.
A public visitation will be held Thursday, January 14, 2010, at
the Better Boys Foundation, 1512 South Pulaski Road in Chicago.
A private burial service has also been planned. In lieu of flowers,
the family asks that contributions be made to the Better Boys Foundation,
1512 South Pulaski Road, Chicago, IL, 60623.
CLICK
HERE to read Kellman's obituary from the Chicago Tribune.
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