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IN MEMORIAM: LOUIS BLAIOTTA, SR.
Louis “Lou” Blaiotta, Sr., founder and chairman of Columbia Elevator Products Co., Inc., died peacefully on March 1 at Calvary Hospital in Bronx, New York, at the age of 85. After working at the Williamsburg Elevator Products Division for several years, in the mid 1960s, he presented his employers, the Katz family, with a "different" concept of marketing elevator entrances and cabs to independent elevator contractors, but the Katzes did not accept it. Blaiotta gave nine months’ notice that he wished to pursue his concept on his own. This resulted in the formation of Columbia. His company went on from humble beginnings as a 10,000-sq.-ft. facility in Port Chester, New York, to become one of North America’s largest independent elevator architectural products manufacturers, with nearly 300,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and engineering facilities located in Bridgeport, Connecticut; Miami; and Winfield, Kansas. Blaiotta was a member of many industry associations, boards and committees. He received the prestigious National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC) Distinguished Service Award (now the William C. Sturgeon Distinguished Service Award) in 1991, and, in 2013, he was presented with honorary lifetime NAEC membership. Blaiotta is survived by his wife of 64 years, Marie, three children and three grandchildren: Margaret (married to Paul) Gilhooley and daughter, Maria; Dione (married to Tom) Birdsall and son, Dillon; and Louis "L.J." (married to Laura) Blaiotta, Jr. and daughter, Alexandra.
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