ANDRE JEAN-JACQUES "J.J." GRAFFIN

1936 - 2021

WEST CHICAGO - Andre Jean-Jacques "J.J." Graffin, age 85, a resident of West Chicago, IL, passed away on November 6, 2021. He was born May 17, 1936, in La Ferte-Bernard, France. Jean-Jacques Graffin, a passionate man who has put innovation at the heart of his development strategy. Born into a family of craftsmen, Jean-Jacques Graffin, an engineer from "Arts & Metiers" school, began his career in the early 1960s in public works, first in Senegal and then in Cameroon, but it was in France that success awaited him. In May 1966, he joined Nova-Socimec, a company specializing in the manufacture of milk pumps and taps and designed a filling machine for plastic bottles for a small dairy in France. At the time, there was no supplier of this type of equipment for small dairy farms. The sales of these machines were increasing ... but an idea was born in the mind of this engineer. An idea that he put into practice by creating the first weight filler in the food industry. Serac was born in June 1969. Although he expected a difficult start, success was immediate. He sold 6 machines in 6 months. In 1977, Serac created the first aseptic filling line for the filling of milk in plastic bottles in partnership with another manufacturer and developed weight filling machines in 1978. Then the idea of creating a production unit abroad began to take hold. He was advised to go to the United States. The US subsidiary was created in 1981 and the Brazilian subsidiary was created in 1985. Then came Asia in 1994, with the creation of Serac Asia in Malaysia. In 2004, he bought Nova- Socimec which he had left to found Serac. A man who grew his company with passion and who, in parallel of business, liked to fly his own plane to certain trade shows, and play samba and mambo tunes on the piano, an instrument he had played in the orchestra of the "Arts & Metiers" school. With 14 subsidiaries and more than 600 employees worldwide, Serac Group has become, in just over 52 years, a key player in the packaging world. The time when he signed his first contracts in his parents' dining room seemed a long time ago. Last September, Serac opened an office in Moscow and is preparing to open another one in Mexico. Jean-Jacques Graffin was supervising his company's latest innovation, the BluStream module, which allows the caps decontamination without chemicals. The spirit of conquest and innovation has never left him. He is survived by his wife, Rosineide Amadio Cabral Graffin; his daughter, Stephanie Katherine Amadio Graffin; his sons, Adrien Gabriel Amadio Graffin and Bruno Amadio Santos and his wife, Maribel Brito Santos. A visitation will be held on November 18, 2021 from 9:00am until the time of service at 1:00pm at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187. Prayers and the blessing at 1:00pm to 2:00pm with the Interment and blessing to follow from 2:00pm to 3:00pm at Assumption Cemetery in Wheaton, Illinois. A livestream link of the service will be available at hultgrenfh.com. Family and friends may sign a guest book at hultgrenfh.com. For more information, please call Hultgren Funeral Home at 630-668-0027.