CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — Jay Blaushild, the second-generation company chairman of Famous Supply, died March 10, 2022, at the age of 88.

In a statement from the company, Blaushild was remembered as a passionate leader, an inspiring mentor, and a dear friend.

“The industry has lost a humble man of exceptional character and integrity who carried on his father’s founding principles to be honest and do what you say you will do,” the statement said, in part.

Famous is an Ohio-based regional distributor of HVAC, plumbing, industrial, and building products and has locations in Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

Jay Blaushild was born in 1933 to immigrants from Europe. His father, Hyman Blaushild, founded Famous that same year after arriving in the U.S. in1922 and working as a sheet metal contractor. The younger Blaushild started working in his father’s warehouse at age 13. He graduated from the University of Miami in Florida and later became an officer in the U.S.Air Force. He eventually joined the family business and took over leadership of the company after his father passed away in 1970.

Survivors include two sons, Marc and Scott Blaushild, and his companion, Ruthe Stone.