For generations, the Stull family of Marion has been a part of its thriving business community.
Stull Family Start in Marion
Reuben Stull owned a grocery store with his brother Will at 132 South Main Street in downtown Marion in the late 1800s.
He married Minerva Smeltzer, whose family operated a blacksmith shop on Smetzer Road which was named after this family.
The Next Generation
Their son, Leroy Daniel Stull, graduated from Marion Harding High School and became a civil and electrical engineer at the Scioto Power Plant which later became the Ohio Edison Company
“He surveyed and designed power lines all the way to the Ohio River. He obtained easements and then engineered and arranged all the equipment required for the construction and installation,” said his son, Dan Stull.
Leroy met his wife, Viola Kennedy when she attended Marion Business College. She later became the office manager for the Marion Cemetery for 35 years.
The Third Generation
“I liked growing up in Marion. You never had to worry. You were safe there. There were a lot of fun kids around to play with,” Dan remembers.
Dan graduated from Harding in 1961. He took after his maternal grandfather, Frank Alva Kennedy, a music teacher, coronet player, and band director in Athens County. Frank had graduated from Ohio Central College in Iberia and earned his teaching degree. He was college buddies with President Warren G. Harding. He later graduated from Ohio Northern University with a degree in music education.
The College Years
Dan’s love of music took him to The Ohio State University, where he made it through grueling tryouts to become one of just 144 people in the marching band.
“It was a real treat. The first game, to perform in front of 80,000 people – it was quite the experience. I can’t really put it into words.” Dan said. “I wish my grandfather would have been alive to see it. He would have loved it.”
Life threw Dan a curve ball as a senior in high school when his father died. He started at Ohio State, but he had to leave college to work and earn money to finish his education. He eventually transferred to Tri-State University in Indiana where he earned a mechanical engineering design degree.
Marion Power Shovel
After graduation, Marion Power Shovel hired Dan as a mechanical designer in 1966, where he designed mining shovels and draglines. He performed field tests on the equipment while it was running. They couldn’t afford to stop the equipment.
“I climbed all the way to the top of the 300-foot dragline boom with no safety harness. We just had to hold on and hope for a smooth operator!” Dan recalls. “The swing speed was 38 miles an hour. I lost a lot of hardhats!”
He also worked on the world’s largest shovel, the Marion 6360. The crawler frame became the basic design for the NASA crawler-transporter that carried the Saturn V rocket and space shuttles.
“As a kid, they were talking about space exploration. It seemed like a dream. Then it became reality!” Dan exclaimed.
Like his father, Dan loved engineering. In addition to his full-time engineering job, he owned and ran Mid-Ohio Engineering Services on the side.
“It’s a very challenging and interesting field. Mechanical, electrical, chemical, aeronautical – let your mind run wild! Think outside the box. Think of how to make a process or a product better. Let your imagination take over. That’s how we develop new products,” Dan said. “Don’t be afraid to make mistakes but learn from them.”
Move to Fairfield Engineering Companies
When the mining industry started to go downhill, Dan went to Fairfield Engineering and Fairfield Service Companies of Marion. He moved his way up from mechanical designer to national sales manager and then president.
Innovation Award
Dan had an idea to take some new technology from Sweden and adapt it to the wastewater industry in North America. He entered his new concept at a WEFTEC International Trade Show. He won the prestigious Innovative Technology Award with the SICON conveyor in Los Angeles in 2000.
“It is like the Emmy or Oscar Awards for our industry,” Dan recalls. “This helped revolutionize the industry.”
The SICON conveyor Dan introduced was able to negotiate sharp 90-degree turns and climb 30-degree inclines which conventional conveyors are unable to do while totally enclosing the product. This greatly improved the industry and provided less risk for environmental spills and reduced odors, benefitting all customers. This state-of-the-art technology is still in use today.
While president, Dan continued to improve existing products and develop new ones. After a new owner bought Fairfield Service Company, he jumped to E&I Corporation out of Chicago to manage international sales.
Mentoring Young Business Leaders
Dan retired briefly. At a job fair on the Marion Campus, he ran into two former CEOs. They worked together to offer an executive coaching and leadership program at the Alber Enterprise Center at The Ohio State University to mentor younger area business leaders.
Stull Family Grows
When Dan first met his wife Claudia Chamberlain, he asked her for a date. She turned him down. Dan kept calling and she gave him a chance. They were married for 46 years and had one daughter, Cindy.
Another Generation Thrives in Marion
Dan lost his wife in 2019, but he delights in his daughter, Cindy Fritch; his granddaughter Danielle Miller; and his great-grandchildren: Braelyn, Kinslee, and Della.
“Marion is a good place to raise a family,” Dan says.
Dan loves looking back at Marion’s history and accomplishments and what that bodes for Marion’s future.
“I’m a lucky guy. I’m blessed to be here. I like to share anything I can with others,” Dan said. “I’m glad to see the progress in Marion. New businesses are popping up in downtown Marion and around the area. We’ve turned a corner and entered a new era. I’m encouraged by what I see.”
