Rest In Play - 2020 - 2029

Lutz Muller, a Swiss business man, passed away on January 14, 2024. Lutz wore a number of hats throughout his life: He was the Senior Director at Schering Plough, a leading pharmaceutical/consu...mer products multinational where he was in charge of international marketing at Headquarters. He was the CEO of DKSH, a Swiss-owned mini-conglomerate that got crafts for children into Wal-Mart's toy aisle, revolutionizing the Activity Kit category. He was the President and founder of Klosters Trading Corporation. He wanted to provide competitive intelligence to large financial entities interested in the CPG space and to assist companies in need of help in the areas of new product development, sales, and marketing. He was the CEO of Pastime Industries Inc. Pastime was a turn-around, a company that had been delisted by Wal-Mart, Target, ToysRUs and many others. Lutz' team invented the "Children make their own Candies" and then "Children make their own Beauty Aids" activity kit concepts and placed these in Wal-Mart, Target, ToysRUs, Costco and many others. He was the Court-appointed Chief Financial Agent for a toy manufacturer. He had a monthly column at TOYS, Germany's leading industry publication, and issued two industry newsletters per month, the Klosters Toy Manufacturer Newsletter and the Klosters Toy Supply Chain Newsletter.Show more

Merle. R. Lewis, model maker and toy designer for Marx Toys, passed away on January 11, 2024. Merle was exceptional with his hands. He was a masterful mechanic, and worked for Marx Toys straight o...ut of school as a model maker and toy designer. His name appears on the patent for the Lectric Shot Shooting Gallery, and thoroughly enjoyed his time there. Before long, though, Merle decided to follow his passion, and in the 70's, learned the art of shoeing horses. He worked on thoroughbred race horses, and traveled all around the United States. He also spent a number of years in Alaska, where he assembled his own on-site saw mill and built a home with trees he cut down himself. In the late 90s, he returned to the Erie area and spent time tinkering in his garage, lending a hand to anyone who needed it. He was an avid outdoorsman, and loved farming, hunting, horses, and gardening. Some of his favorite memories were spent hunting with lifelong friends, and of course, his son Jeff. Merle is now reunited with his son, who tragically passed away just over a year ago.Show more

Kamar de los Reyes was born on November 8, 1967, and passed away on Christmas Eve in 2023 after a brief battle with cancer. He was best known for his role as Raul Menendez in Treyarch's Call of Duty: ...Black Ops II. He also reprised the same role in Call of Duty: Black Ops IV and Sledgehammer's Call of Duty: Vanguard. He also appeared on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live, and other shows and films including All American, Sleepy Hollow, and The Gifted. Kamar was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and grew up in Las Vegas, where he developed a love of singing and dancing. He moved to LA to chase his dreams of being an entertainer.Show more

James McCaffrey was born on March 27, 1958 and passed away on December 17, 2023 at the age of 65. He was an actor and voice actor, best known for his role as Jimmy Keefe in the game Rescue Me and Max ...Payne in the Max Payne video games. James was born in Albany, and was a member of The Actors Studio since 1987. He started his own theater company, The Workhouse Theatre, in Tribeca, Manhattan. He appeared on TV in episodes of Civil Wars, Dick Wolf's Swift Justice, Law & Order: Crominal Intent and SVU, As The World Turns, and many more, including a few movies. In the toy industry, James voice Max Payne from the title character series, Tom Payne and Alex Casey in Alan Wake and Zachariah Trench for Control.Show more

Tony Trickett worked for some of the toy industry's most prominent toy companies throughout his career, including Palitoy and Character Options. At Palitoy, Tony worked in a variety of positions, ...from area manager to export sales manager, and colleagues remember him as someone you could always trust, and always had a joke to tell. At Character Options, Tony was the National Account manager, and managing director Joe Kissane recalls hiring him as "one of the best decisions we ever made."Show more

Marleen Flumerfelt, owner of Tsawwassen Toys & Tech, passed away at the age of 67 on November 20, 2023. Located in Canada, Toys & Tech was something Marleen was very proud to own for over 25 years.... A local toy store that kids and parents alike enjoyed visiting, Marleen was a friendly face who truly loved the toy business. She will be deeply missed by friends and family alike.Show more

Frederick "Fred" Held was born on October 17, 1937 and passed away on August 29, 2023. Fred was the head of Management Information Service, Global Operations, and Vice President of Marketing at Mattel... for 24 years. He also was a part-time member of UCLA's teaching staff in Business and Engineering, where he created and taught the first class in the US about the Internet. Fred was also a LA City Beach Lifeguard, and actually designed the lifeguard towers you see today. He enjoyed golf, skiing, gardening, tennis, and performing in productions at the Norris Theatre. He will be dearly missed by friends and family alike.Show more

Ana Ofelia Murguía was born on December 8, 1933 and passed away on December 31, 2023. She was 90 years old at the time of her death. Ana was a Mexican actress, best known for voicing Mamá Coco in th...e 2017 Disney-Pixar film Coco. Ana was born in Mexico City, and has acted in over 30 movies throughout her career. She won a lifetime achievement award at Mexico's 2011 Ariel film awards ceremony. She also won best supporting actress at the Ariel awards in 1979, 1986, and 1996.Show more

Murray Jackson, founder of Edx Education, passed away on January 3, 2024. Edx Education is a major supplier to the international education market. Known for their philosophy "learning through play,..." the company develops quality hands-on educational materials to foster children's learning through play in the classroom and at home. Though Edx Education has been in business for over 20 years, the company really hit its stride when the global pandemic led to an increase in home schooling. Murray founded Edx Education in 1996, and ran it himself for 27 years, but that's not all he did. He helped pioneer projects such as the opening of an after school center in Taiwan. He was both an industry leader and a mentor to many, and he will be dearly missed by all who knew him.Show more

Jack Leo Williams passed away at the age of 82 on December 31, 2023. Jack got his start in the toy business just after graduating high school in 1959, working at a new Bradlees Department Store, setti...ng up and managing their new toy department. In the early 1980s, Jack became a partner at Freud, Morris, and Williams (FMW), a toy manufacturer rep business in Manhattan. The company represented domestic and international toy factory manufacturers. Jack spent over fifty years traveling all throughout New England, even making over thirty trips to Hong Kong, before retiring at age 78. In 2015, Jack was honored by the Officers and Board of Directors of the American International Toy Industry Association for his attendance at the New York's annual Toy Fair for over 50 years in a row.Show more