In more than 25 years at Huffy, Bob worked to place millions of bicycles in the hands of consumers around the world, the company said.
Stomel was director of sales at Huffy Corp. and United Wheels, a global holding company whose brands include Huffy.
“Bob always included Huffy as part of his family,” said Mike O’Gara, Huffy senior vice president of sales. “Bob’s contributions to this organization are too numerous to name, but suffice it to say, he gave Huffy everything he had, every day.”
Miami Twp.-based Huffy has a long Dayton-anchored history. The Davis Sewing Machine Co., Huffy’s predecessor, moved from New York to Dayton in 1892 before the manufacturer found its stride as a bicycle maker in the 1930s.
Decades of innovation followed as the company became a household name in America, dabbling in sports goods and other product lines, like lawnmowers and even gas station equipment.
But the industry and the company were shaken in the 1990s when imports of mass-market bicycles from China began in earnest. In 1998, Huffy closed its Celina, Ohio production plant (a plant later occupied by Crown Equipment Corp.).
In recent years, Huffy increased market share and tended to its bottom line. Today, Huffy is a privately held company with more than 130 years in the bicycle business.
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