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Eulogy, John Crean, 1925-2007

The following was delivered by Elden Smith, President and CEO, Fleetwood Enterprises at John Crean's memorial service on January 18, 2007.

I want to thank the Crean family for inviting me to celebrate with you the business life of John Crean. Having this opportunity is an extraordinary honor.

Fleetwood, founded in 1950, was the launching pad for an incredibly intense, very creative man with an entrepreneurial spirit, and the strong belief that he could build a better trailer. The 1950s were a period of learning for John, a decade of highs and lows, successes and failures. But out of this period came the basic principles of a great company, a multibillion dollar enterprise that by the time he retired led both the manufactured housing and recreation vehicle industries in every segment by a wide margin.

And, out of the '50s came a more single-minded, focused entrepreneurial leader. John determined that good, functional, reliable, high-quality product, produced by a financially solid company comprised of loyal motivated people, was the foundation on which his company would grow. Motivated employees would be attracted to a company by the same things that gave him a sense of satisfaction. An opportunity to be creative, to make decisions, to learn from mistakes, to control their own destiny, and to share in the resulting profits and provide for their families at a level that before joining Fleetwood could only be a dream.

His managers were expected to be, above all, honest, dedicated, hard working, focused and loyal. He rewarded these character traits with trust and opportunity.

In the '70s he became our "teacher." He taught the principles of entrepreneurship. He was not a conventional teacher. No lectures. Most times he taught by example. For example, my first real lesson on the importance of "function and convenience" came a little over 35 years ago. I was in charge of the Recreational Vehicle Group. John would come by every few weeks and we would go to lunch to discuss the market, our latest products and operational direction. He picked me up one day with his new Rolls Royce Corniche Convertible, white with a gorgeous burl wood and red leather interior, complete with the latest CB radio bolted to the floor. . . the most beautiful car I had ever seen. While on our way to and from Denny's he demonstrated both the car and the CB radio. A few weeks later he came by again. I got into the car and the first thing he had to show me was how he no longer had to reach down to the floor to grab the CB microphone . . . to my dismay he had taken two hex head screws and screwed the bracket for the microphone to the beautiful burl wood dash at arm's length from the driver's seat. He reached out, without having to lean over, without taking his eyes off the road, and grabbed the microphone and pleased as punch made a call to an unknown trucker. . . function and convenience.

Everything to John was a "house," be it a mobile home, motor home, travel trailer or folding trailer. And they were all expected to meet the same high standards for function and reliability. Every cabinet in the kitchen of a house, or galley in an RV, must easily accommodate the things it should: pots and pans, canned goods, and cereal boxes; and tables must be large enough to accommodate full-sized plates and place settings opposite each other. No compromises.

John was well aware of manufacturing and material cost. Vacationing in RVs, in Mexico, a group of five Fleetwood families and John and Donna enjoyed a wonderful week together in the late '70s. While most of us on this vacation read, fished, swam, hiked and generally experienced the outdoors, John took his ever-present toolbox and went through the unit we had provided him, from front to rear and top to bottom. On the last day he and Donna departed early. When I got up in the morning, propped on the top of the spare tire carrier on the back of our motor home, was a box of parts that John had taken out of his motor home: excess wiring, ducting for the heating system, unnecessary screws and brackets, and other miscellaneous parts . . . the message: "you are getting loose with your manufacturing processes and design specs . . . tighten up."

Regarding warranty costs. Water leaks and electrical shorts were problems in early motor homes. One evening, while on a trip to visit dealers, John was playing a game of gin rummy with our motor home director of production. Early in one game, as John threw down his hand with Gin, he said good-naturedly, "Take that, Mr. Director of Leaks and Shorts!" Subtlety was not one of John's strong suits, but effectiveness was.

As an inventor and innovator John was unparalleled: a Venetian blind mechanism in the 1940s, an innovative manufactured home in the 1970s and the Bounder motor home in the 1980s.

The Bounder motor home revolutionized the design of motor homes throughout the industry. Put very simply, what John did was raise the floor of the motor home. This provided bus-like storage below the floor, and allowed for more functional floor plans and operational features. John developed this motor home with the help of a drafter, and one of our prototype assemblers, in his workshop at home. Within a few years the Bounder motor home was the best selling motor home in the country . . . 90% of the motor homes sold in the country today contain most of the unique features John put in that first Bounder unit.

Earlier I mentioned John's toolbox. The toolbox was probably the first thing John loaded in every motor home or trailer he used. He is legendary among Fleetwood Owners Club members. When John and Donna attended Owner Rallies, John would place a writing pad outside their unit and invite anyone that had a problem with their motor home or trailer (something that needed adjusted or fixed) to put their name and space number on the list and he would come by and take care of it. When he had time he would grab his toolbox and head out into the park. You have no idea how many people there are that state with great pride that the Chairman of the Board of Fleetwood Enterprises came by and adjusted their screen door.

At the corporate offices, John's office was the least used office in the facility. He spent most of his time in the shop of the product development building, in the offices of managers and staff, in the plants visiting with management and associates on the production line, with our dealers and with owners. If he had papers to sign, he signed them, as often as not while "talking shop," on the corner of someone else's desk.

John was a natural born entrepreneur, a child of the depression and poverty, educated in the school of hard knocks, and he never forgot a lesson. John Crean instilled in us such simple wisdoms as:

"When things are bad it will get good. When things are good it will get bad. We need to manage our business accordingly."

"During difficult times if you net just $1 you will not go broke."

"The most important 'tool' in the product development area is the dumpster." He felt the dumpster should always be full of failed efforts to improve our products. You might say success comes as a result of many failures.

Years ago I saved a quote by Clarence Francis (a world renowned business leader of the 1930s and '40s) that I believe frames the essence of John's leadership. It says:

You can buy a man's time; you can buy his physical presence at a given place; you can even buy a measured number of his skilled muscular motions per hour.

But you cannot buy enthusiasm.
You cannot buy loyalty.
You cannot buy the devotion of hearts, minds or souls.
You must earn these!

John Crean earned our enthusiasm, our loyalty, our minds and our hearts. We at Fleetwood will never forget him or the things he stood for, and we will be forever grateful.

John's company, Fleetwood Enterprises, has since 1950 built more than 1,300,000 homes, 1,700,000 recreational vehicles, and provided jobs and careers for tens of thousands of people. Because there is a Fleetwood, millions of people are able to enjoy their leisure pursuits more comfortably, afford better homes, and achieve greater career success and opportunity. Their lives, our lives, are better because John Crean passed by this way.

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