Baltimore – Craig
Georgi, Polk Audio’s first employee, passed away at age 63.
Georgi worked at
Polk for 30 years before retiring in 2008.
When the company
was founded in 1972, Georgi was hand-winding coils for crossovers in his
bedroom at Le Chateau, an old mansion in Baltimore where he and the company’s
co-founders lived and worked, Polk said. Georgi moved on to managing production
and manufacturing at the company’s Baltimore headquarters and in its
manufacturing facility in Tijuana, Mexico.
Polk sales and
marketing VP Ben Newhall commented on Georgi’s passing by saying Polk and
parent DEI Holdings “are deeply saddened to hear of Craig’s passing,” but he
also said, “We are equally proud of the innumerable contributions he made to
both the company and the speaker industry as a whole. He brought heart to Polk
Audio with a knack for problem-solving combined with an unshakable work ethic
that set the foundation for our continued success. His influence is indelibly
stamped on our culture.”
During retirement,
Georgi spent much of his time with family, bicycling and working on an annual
fundraising golf tournament benefitting the Home of Guiding Hands, which
provides services to more than 425 individuals with developmental disabilities
in San Diego’s East County, where Georgi lived with his wife and family.
A private service
will be held in San Diego on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 2 p.m. The family asked that
in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Craig’s favorite charities: The Home
of Guiding Hands (
),
The Challenged Athletes Foundation (
http://www.challengedathletes.org
)
and The Salvation Army (
http://donate.salvationarmyusa.org
).
