Oregon Public Broadcasting

Dick Wendt, the founder of the Klamath Falls-based window and door manufacturer Jeld-Wen has died at the age of 79. Wendt passed away this Saturday at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland after suffering a stroke.

Dick Wendt was born in Dubuque, Iowa and graduated from Iowa State University. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he went to work for an Iowa-based window manufacturer.

He was sent to Klamath Falls in 1957 to help turn around one of its fledgling factories.  When the company decided to sell the facility, Wendt and four other coworkers bought the assets at auction and founded their own company. 

That company, Jeld-Wen is now in its 50th year and has 20,000 employees with operations in 20 countries.

Todd Kellstrom is mayor of Klamath Falls where Jeld-Wen has its headquarters.  Kellstrom says Klamath Falls wouldn’t be the town it is today without Dick Wendt.

Still he says, the first word that comes to mind when he thinks of Wendt is “humble”.

Todd Kellstrom: “He shied from the limelight.  You know many of us, if we do something nice we want our picture in the paper something like that to prove to the other people that we’re good folks.  He didn’t need that.”

Over the years, Wendt and his wife Nancy gave millions of dollars to charity.

But he also lent his financial backing — and his business acumen — to promote conservative causes.

Teri Cline is director of communications of Jeld-Wen.  She worked with Wendt for 14 years.  She says Wendt was passionate about the idea that people should have the ability to earn a living for themselves. 

Teri Cline: “He was a fan of the free market system and he was a fan of personal responsibility, but he was highly highly compassionate and I think when you blend that all of that together you get a pretty remarkable person”

Dick Wendt is survived by his wife, Nancy and sons Rod and Mark.