Wausau Pilot & Review
A company with roots in Wausau that expanded into a leading global provider announced this week that the company’s founder and chairman emeritus has died.
David W. Graebel, 94, died Nov. 29.
Graebel Companies, Inc. continues under the leadership of son Bill Graebel, current chair and CEO, along with its senior executive team.
Dave was born in Wausau in 1929 to Nina and Ben Graebel. Nina was a schoolteacher who gave up her career to raise Dave and Nancy. Ben worked in food distribution before affiliating his warehousing business, Wausau Public Storage, with Mayflower Moving. During his teenage years, Dave gladly pitched in at the warehouse, working with local movers who were packing and loading. He later recalled, “I always liked the truck drivers. They seemed to have such interesting lives. One of them taught me how to drive a truck and then a truck and a trailer.”
In 1950, at age 21, Dave left the university and embarked on his business career. He and Ben purchased a Mayflower statewide moving authority, renaming the company Graebel Movers. They bought their first truck from a local dealership. Dave and Lois were married in September of that same year and Dave was drafted into the Army in December. Lois and Ben ran Graebel Movers in Dave’s absence until Ben passed away in 1953. Dave returned from military service in Korea and ran the company for his mother until he and Lois purchased her share of the business in 1960.
In a 1999 interview, Dave explained that during that period, “I never waited for the telephone to ring. I went to every For Sale sign I could find and just knocked on the door.” It’s not surprising that Graebel Movers soon was the most successful small-market Mayflower agency in the U.S.
Dave left the Mayflower family in 1956 and affiliated Graebel Movers with Allied Van Lines Group where he had the opportunity to introduce new ways to provide exceptional value to his customers. These industry breakthroughs included packaging innovations like wardrobe boxes and cell-packs.
Dave expanded the company regionally to Appleton, Milwaukee and Chicago. As a military-trained pilot, he flew his own plane throughout the Midwest for meetings and appointments. Soon Dave established hubs in New York, Florida, Georgia and Texas. By the 1970s, Graebel Movers handled nearly 10% of Allied’s national volume and maintained the largest Allied fleet in the U.S.
Dave saw tremendous opportunities for his company with the deregulation of the moving industry in 1980. New laws made it easier to establish independent van lines and compete based on price, transit schedules and other service levels. In 1982, Dave pulled Graebel Movers out of the franchise agent networks, establishing Graebel Van Lines, an independent interstate carrier. Together with Graebel Movers, the nationwide moving and storage company, the Graebel organization (Graebel Companies, Inc.) provided coast-to-coast services, competing with the large franchise interstate van lines.
Graebel Companies, Inc. also included Graebel Movers International, which provided freight forwarding services. It flourished as well during this period thanks to the company’s service centers in all the major U.S. shipping ports and its affiliations with leading international mover organizations and their premier members around the world.
During his nearly seven decades in the relocation industry, Dave’s efforts to build, shape and define exceptional relocation experiences and duty of care to clients and supplier partners led to the highest honors from local and global business organizations, recognizing his strategic vision, business acumen and charitable efforts.
“During this difficult time, we are remembering Dave’s larger-than-life presence, enthusiasm and dedication to Graebel, the global mobility industry, friends and family,” said Ron Dunlap, Graebel Companies president. “We proudly carry on his legacy and live the values he exemplified — truth, love and integrity — which are the foundations of the company he built.”
With an unrelenting passion, Dave dedicated his life not only to advancing quality standards within his company but within the moving and storage/relocation industry as well. He was a Charter member of Overseas Moving Network International (OMNI) and served on the Board of the American Movers Conference and the American Moving & Storage Association.
Dave also rolled up his sleeves to support the communities where he lived. He served as President of Wausau School District, President of the Samoset Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Founding President of Northern Wisconsin Junior Achievement and a member of the Corporate Committee of the Volunteers of America in Denver. At his church, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors and as a Sunday School teacher.
An avid skier, competing in downhill races into his 80s, Dave also served on the Board of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation.
With an unrelenting passion, Dave dedicated his life not only to advancing quality standards within his company but within the moving and storage/relocation industry as well. He was a Charter member of Overseas Moving Network International (OMNI) and served on the Board of the American Movers Conference and the American Moving & Storage Association.
Dave also rolled up his sleeves to support the communities where he lived. He served as President of Wausau (WI) School District, President of the Samoset Council of the Boy Scouts of America, Founding President of Northern Wisconsin Junior Achievement and a member of the Corporate Committee of the Volunteers of America in Denver. At his church, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors and as a Sunday School teacher.
An avid skier, competing in downhill races into his 80s, Dave also served on the Board of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation.
In addition to his son Bill, Dave Graebel is survived by his five grandchildren, Jessica, Luke, Will, David and Danny and 2 great-grandchildren.
Service arrangements will be provided at a later date.
?His life and achievements are celebrated here: https://www.graebel.com/dave-graebel-tribute/.
