Former W&H Corp. president James Feeney passes away

Photo Credit: W&H Corp.

James Feeney, the first president of the North American operations of Germany-based flexible packaging machinery maker Windmöller & Hölscher, passed away on July 2 in Westport, Mass., at the age of 85.

“Due to [Jim’s] foresight and belief in the potential of W&H Corp. in the U.S. market, management agreed to open a sales and service subsidiary in Rhode Island in 1977,” W&H Corp. officials said in a statement. “A strong leader with vision and conviction, Jim was the undisputed choice to become the first president of W&H’s North American operations. His became the face that customers associated with W&H Corp., and he was known as a man of his word. This trustworthiness and integrity became the foundation of the culture he instilled in his team and remains firmly anchored today, 20 years after his retirement.”

Feeney held the job of W&H Corp. president for 24 years.

Feeney also served on the boards of the industry’s major trade associations, including as President of the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) and as chairman of the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI). In addition, the Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) honoured him with the President’s Award in 1999 and later inducted him into the FLEXO Hall of Fame.

“Jim was able to very clearly juxtapose the advanced German machinery with the American way of thinking,” said W&H Corp.’s current president Andrew Wheeler. “He had an incredible appreciation for and understanding of the German management as well as the customer’s mindset. He inherently knew that his job was to not only ‘sell’ the North American customers, but also to make sure that our German colleagues were on board as well. He was selling trust… in him, as well as the company.”