Louis D. "Bud" Root

SOUTHAMPTON, NY Louis Denman "Bud" Root went to Heaven on Friday, July 10, 2009, and is now with his dearly beloved wife, Joan. He is survived by his two sisters, Frances Erickson and Suzie Hodges; his three sons Jerry, Todd, and Chris Root; their spouses, Marian, Lucia and Cassie; and seven grandchildren. Bud was born in Bronxville, N.Y., on December 6, 1922, and was raised in Southampton, N.Y. He attended grammar school in Southampton, went on to Choate School in Wallingford, Conn., and then went to college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. In 1943 he joined the Army and fought in World War II as a 2nd Lieutenant in the infantry and as part of the Army Corps of Engineers. He returned to the states in 1946 where he went to work in New York City for his family's business, New York Wire Company, which was founded by his grandfather, Francis Jerome Root, in 1888. Within a year, he married his beloved childhood friend, Joan Funk, and in 1951 was made President of the family business at the age of 29. In 1954 he moved his family and the headquarters of the company to York, where the manufacturing operations were located. And in 1965 he purchased the business from his father and other stock holders, and continued to expand its sales throughout the world until he sold it in January 2000. My father and his family have always been grateful to the 1000's of good, honest, hard working people in York, and elsewhere, who made New York Wire Company a success for four generations of Roots. These dedicated people, like millions of others in our nations' manufacturing industries, are the unsung heroes who have helped make our country great. The Root family thanks you all from the bottom of our hearts and wishes you health, peace, and continued prosperity throughout these difficult times. A funeral service will be held in Bud's honor at St. John's Episcopal Church, 100 S. Main St., Southampton, N.Y., at 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 28, 2009.