Clare F. Jarecki, the founder of the former Jarecki Machine and Tool Company in Grand Rapids, passed away on October 21. Jarecki was a member of the Advisory Cabinet of the Grand Valley University Foundation, the Grand Valley State Hall of Fame and the Honorary Executive Cabinet of the campaign for the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences. His generosity and leadership with GVSU directly benefited both the Keller Engineering Laboratories building, where a Design Bay bears his name, and the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, where the Clare F. Jarecki Grand Staircase is a central feature of this new facility.
"Clare will be missed," said President Mark A. Murray. "He was a remarkable entrepreneur, an industrialist and supporter of many fine institutions of higher education. He shared his vision and expertise with so many tool and die manufacturers during his business days, including his friend and protege, the late Les Tassell, who created and grew Lescoa. Clare made an indelible impact on some of Grand Valley's most important offerings to the community, in engineering and in health. Clare was a very good man and we will miss him."
