Cleveland, OH - Jack Kahl, The founder and former CEO of MANCO, the duck-tape company passed away earlier this week at the age of 78. Kahl was born on the west side of Cleveland and attended both St. Edward High School and John Carroll University.
In 1971, he bought the Melvin Anderson Company where he was working and shortened the name to MANCO. At a trade show in Dallas, five years later, he met with a Wal-Mart buyer twenty minutes past closing which led to a massive order and life long relationship with Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. The company’s mascot Manco T. Duck was created in 1984 and by 1998 Kahl sold the company to the Henkel Group for $116 million and he shared 30-percent of the of the sale with MANCO employees.
Kahl served on many boards including American Greetings, Cleveland Clinic, Students in Free Enterprise, St. Edward High School, John Carroll University and many more.
He will be laid to rest on Friday, January 4th after his funeral mass at St. Angela Merici Church in Fairview Park.