Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM MARCH 2022 62 T he 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded at United Appliance Servicers Association's Annual Service Training Institute (ASTI) in St. Pete Beach in January. Please take a moment to read the kind words by Dean Landers about this year's winner and their impact on the appliance service industry. "It is my distinct honor and privilege to stand before you tonight on behalf of the United Appliance Servicers Association's board of directors and offer the annual Lifetime achievement award in memoriam of David Brightman. This year, the UASA board of directors had two high-quality candidates to consider for the Lifetime Award. I would be remiss in not mentioning the other nominee, John Stanton, the very popular LG service trainer, well known by many. John also passed away earlier this year. David Brightman retired from BSH in January 2020. He was just shy of his 69th birthday when he died on July 15, 2021. Dave and his wife Roberta lived in New Jersey for most of their married life and moved to Mount Pleasant, SC 13 years ago. He graduated from West Morris High School in 1970 and went on to Ocean County College, earning a degree in business. Dave loved all things electronics. Early on, he owned and operated his own service company, eventually moving on to work for small electronics manufacturing companies. Dave worked his way up the corporate ladder, moving to larger companies, including stints at RCA and General Electric. In the early 1990s Dave was recruited by the Conair Corporation to take over as head of their Cuisinart Division for all of the United States. In 1994 he joined Thermador, running their New York factory service division before they were acquired by BSH in 1998. Dave became National Service Manager, responsible for the entire Factory Service network in the USA and Canada. In 2004 Dave was tasked with starting BSH's own service division in the San Francisco and New York markets. It was a new concept for Bosch, and Dave was so successful at setting up these two service areas that BSH tasked him in the following year to expand the model. Dave eventually set up 22 factory service centers throughout the country. His management team included 20 field service managers handling both independent servicers and factory service. Dave's personal mission was to set up Factory Service without having to cancel his third-party independent service providers, which helped keep those businesses running. To his credit, when Dave retired in January of 2020, he had 3200 independent service providers on board doing BSH warranty work. Dave's legacy lives on at BSH and throughout the industry. On a personal note, I've had many interactions with Dave over the years, both as past president of this association, as a moderator of panel discussions, and in my life as president of Landers Appliance. Dave never minced words. He called it like he saw it. If something was brought to his attention that he was responsible for but unaware of, he worked to fix it. If he saw something in the association or in an individual service company, he did not hesitate to offer his perspective. He was an exceptionally honest and forthright man, and for that he has always had my utmost respect. Dave's intellect, humor and all-around great personality will be missed by everyone who had the privilege of knowing him. Dave is survived by Roberta, his dear, sweet wife of 45 years, and his daughters Janine Hild and her husband Dwayne, and Heather Richvalsky and her husband Damon – as well as seven most cherished grandchildren, Kyle, Julia, Reese and Colin Hild, and Thomas, Caroline and Michael Richvalsky. Dave's siblings include his sister Carol Eggert and husband Edwin, brother John and his wife Ann, brother Tad and his wife Alicia, and his sister, Peg. In addition to many nieces and nephews, Dave is also survived by his sister-in-law Rita Rekus and her husband Roger and their children, Theresa Rekus Murray and Greg Rekus – as well as sister-in-law Edna Mangold and her husband Ricky and their children, Adrienne Padula and Meghan Perrone. It is my great honor and privilege to present Dave Brightman with the United Appliance Service Associations 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award. Art Tedrick, long- time family friend and co-worker, accepted the award on behalf of Roberta and the entire Brightman family. Dean Landers, Landers Appliance S E R V I C E D E P A R T M E N T RO THE 2022 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: DAVID BRIGHTMAN

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