February 15, 1957
Page 3
Raymond C. Firestone Elected To Presidency
Lee R. Jackson
James E. Trainer
Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. Announces
Moves To Enlarge Management
Lee R. Jackson Named Yice Chairman;
James E. Trainer Execiftive Vice President
Four Others Elevated
Raymond c. firestone was elected
president of the Company by the Board
of Directors following the annual stock
holders’ meeting on January 19. He succeeds
Lee R. Jackson, who was elected to the
newly-created office of vice chairman. Mr.
Jackson had requested that he be relieved
of his duties as president but will continue
active in the business. James E. Trainer
Was elected the executive vice president.
These and other changes in executive
personnel were made “in moves enlarging
executive management to meet the increas
ing business opportunities of the years
ahead,” according to an announcement by
Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., chairman and
chief executive of the company.
* * *
MR. FIRESTONE also announced that
the Board of Directors had elevated John J.
Shea to vice president and chairman of the
finance committee, and Harvey H. Hollinger
from treasurer to vice president in charge
of finance succeeding Mr. Shea. Elton H.
Schulenberg, former assistant treasurer,
Was elected to the office of treasurer suc
ceeding Mr. Hollinger. John L. Cohill,
former assistant to the president, was
elected vice president in charge of non
tire subsidiaries. Joseph Thomas was re
elected secretary and general counsel, and
Elton H. Schulenberg
John L. Cohill
Claude A. Pauley was re-elected comptroller.
Other officers re-elected were Harold D.
Tompkins, vice president; Harold M. Taylor,
vice president; Eldon H. Eaton, assistant
treasurer; Henry S. Brainard, assistant
secretary; Byron H. Larabee, assistant sec
retary ; Laurence A. Frese, assistant comp
troller, and Robert P. Beasley, assistant
comptroller.
Mr. Jackson has been associated with
Firestone for 44 years. He was elected a
director of the company in 1928 and has
served as president since 1948.
* * ♦
IN PAYING TRIBUTE to Mr. Jackson’s
executive leadership, Harvey S. Firestone,
Jr. said, “Our Company has made great
progress during the years Lee Jackson has
served as president, setting new sales and
profit records and becoming a Billion Dollar
Sales Company.”
Raymond C. Firestone succeeds Mr.
Jackson after five years as vice president in
charge of research and development and
three years as executive vice president. He
joined the company in 1933 as a service
station attendant on the gas island of a
Firestone store in Los Angeles, and later
became a commercial salesman. During the
next nine years he gained wide sales expe
rience as a store manager,
territory salesman, district
and division sales manager.
The next three years were
served as an officer and pilot
in the Ferry Command of
the U. S. Air Force in World
War H.‘
When the company started
a new manufactui'ing plant
in Memphis, Tenn., Raymond
Firestone was assigned the
job of plant manager and
later became president of all
production and sales opera
tions of the Company in the
southern states, a position
he held until his transfer to
Akron.
Raymond C. Firestone
John J. Shea
Harvey H. Hollinger
EDITORIAL
(Reprinted from Akron Beacon Journal, January 22)
Firestone’s Future
Firestone’s employees, dealers and stockholders all
have a stake in the company’s future. And so do Akron,
Memphis, Noblesville and all the other communities in this
country and abroad where Firestone has plants, ware
houses, stores and plantations. Thus any change in the
top management of this worldwide corporation is a matter
of public concern.
Two thoughts occurred to us when we learned that
the Board of Directors had named Raymond C. Firestone
to succeed Lee R. Jackson as president of the Company. The
first was simply one of regret that Jackson, who has con
tributed so much to the Company’s growth during his 44
years of association with it, has found it necessary to re
linquish the responsibility of the presidency. The second
was the feeling that the Firestone organization is fortu
nate indeed to have, in Ray Firestone, a man who is pre
pared at 48 to take over the demanding office of president.
“Our Company,” said Chairman Harvey S. Firestone,
Jr., “has made great progress during the years that Lee
Jackson has served as president, setting new sales and
profit records and becoming a billion dollar sales company.”
Jackson’s forceful leadership will be missed. But
with a management team headed by Chairman Harvey
Firestone, President Ray Firestone and Executive Vice
President James E. Trainer, the Company can look to the
future with confidence. The newest member of that execu
tive team is equipped with the vision, personality and
training to carry on in the finest Firestone tradition.