Jack A. Trumbull

Jack A. Trumbull, 78, of Vero Beach, FL, and formerly of Toledo, OH, passed away on Monday, October 24, 2005, in Perrysburg, Ohio, as a result of thyroid cancer.
Jack was born in Toledo on August 10, 1927, to Howard and Clara Trumbull of Toledo. His formal education was graduating from Libbey High School and attending The University of Toledo. Jack's love of country was served as a U.S. Navy corpsman during World War II. He met Mary Lou Neeb as a student nurse at The Toledo Hospital and married her in 1950. They had two children, Debbie and Tom, joined their mother in being the focal point of his life.
It was in the world of business and aviation where his indelible mark was made. Jack joined National Family Opinion, Inc. (NFO) in 1946, the year it was founded by his father, Howard. Jack was the president and CEO of National Family Opinion, Inc. from 1964 to 1982. Under Jack's leadership NFO became one of the most widely recognized custom market research companies in America. Jack spent 37 years building NFO into a household name among the largest consumer package good companies in the United States. He opened offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Greensboro, NC, St. Louis, Houston and Cincinnati. He accelerated the concept of panel research by building large panels consisting of hundreds of thousands of American households that cooperated several times per year in completing surveys by mail and telephone, in the interest of building better brands for many of America's largest corporations. Jack was a pioneer in convincing companies to use panel research, so much that the concept was followed by several other companies that latterly competed with NFO in America. Under Jack's leadership NFO launched several services including consumer product tracking programs, purchase and consumption studies and in home product testing of consumer products that were conducted by mail in the panelist's home. It was so successful that NFO became the largest customer of the US Postal Service in Northwest Ohio utilizing several zip codes within its corporate headquarters in Northwood, Ohio. NFO grew to become one of the top 20 market research firms in America while he was president of the firm. NFO's client list read like "Who's Who in Corporate America" under his guidance. NFO was sold to AGB Research plc, London, in 1982 and he retired shortly thereafter following an illustrious career as president and CEO of the firm.
Jack's life long passion was flying. He was very active in the aviation community as an accomplished pilot and instructor, owning and operating numerous aircraft throughout his 60 years of flying. Jack effectively used his company aircraft to build his business by visiting his clients, flying all over the continental United States. He was instrumental in teaching his children, his son-in-law and two of his grandsons how to fly. The highlight of his flying days was back and forth to his summer home in Leland, MI, where his favorite time was spent vacationing with his extended family for the past 30 years.
Jack was an avid outdoorsman, yachtsman, golfer, and aviator. Memberships related to these activities included Rockwell Trout Club, The Moorings Club of Vero Beach, the Great Lakes Cruising Club and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association.
He was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Maumee and Community Church of Vero Beach, FL. He was an active Toledo Rotarian and a Paul Harris Fellow. He served on various boards including Park Congregational Church and YMCA Storer Camps, which he and his family attended in their youth.
Jack is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 55 years, Mary Lou; daughter, Debbie (Bill) Lipner; son, Tom (Sue) Trumbull and grandchildren, Drew and Wesley Lipner, Michael, Scott, Kyle and Madison Trumbull.
Friends and family may call at Walker Funeral Home, 5155 W. Sylvania Ave., west of Corey Rd., on Friday, October 28th, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A celebration of Jack's life will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 200 E. Broadway, Maumee, OH, on Saturday, October 29th, at 2:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice of Northwest Ohio or YMCA Storer Camps. On-line condolences may be sent to www.walkerfuneral homes.com