Pleasant leaves legacy
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, July 9, 2007
Atlanta — Gary Pleasant, a top Simmons sales executive who was killed in a bus accident here June 30, is remembered by his colleagues as a positive, caring leader who mentored hundreds in his decades in the bedding industry.
"Gary truly left a legacy at Simmons," said Charlie Eitel, chairman and CEO of the bedding major. "After 37 years with the company, he was our most tenured executive and served as historian and coach for the many members of the Simmons family that he routinely mentored."
Pleasant, 64, died when a chartered bus carrying him and other Simmons executives crashed near downtown Atlanta. They had joined friends and family of Simmons executive Roger Murray for a surprise 65th birthday celebration for Murray.
Murray, who was on the bus, survived, but his daughter-in-law, Sheri Murray, was killed.
News of Pleasant's death shocked and saddened his friends and colleagues.
"He was a committed team member and a loyal colleague," said Eitel. "We will miss his knowledge of the business, his incredible relationships with our dealers, and his unwavering dedication, but most of all, we will miss Gary — a man whose qualities inspired us all to be great spouses and parents, friends and business associates."
Pleasant first came to Simmons in 1966. He worked at Sealy in the late 1980s, as that company consolidated its ownership, and rejoined Simmons in 1991 as vice president and general manager of the Seattle plant. He held a number of high-profile positions at Simmons, and was appointed senior vice president of sales for Simmons in 2005.
"Gary was the consummate positive thinker; the glass was always half full and never half empty," recalled Don Hofmann, who worked with Pleasant at Simmons and is now a consultant. "No matter what was going on, Gary always had a smile on his face and always made you feel glad to be in his company. He played a critical and valuable role in the careers of hundreds of Simmons sales people and executives over his 30-plus years with the company."
Kurt Ling, who also worked with Pleasant at Simmons and now operates a customer service company, said Pleasant played a key role in introducing the No-Flip Beautyrest mattress.
"In June of 1999," Ling said, "Zenon Nie (then Simmons' CEO) asked me to put together a small group of people to rethink Beautyrest for its 75th anniversary in 2000. ... We met at the Prescott hotel in a small conference room before the San Francisco market. It was at that meeting that the No-Flip Beautyrest mattress was born, which ultimately changed the industry. The idea came from Gary. I gave Gary a 'Thinking out of the Box' desk set and will forever be indebted for that contribution."
Ling added that Pleasant "was a humble guy and never tried to honk his horn. He was just one of the guys on the team."
Gerry Borreggine, president of Therapedic, worked with Pleasant on the Better Sleep Council.
"First and foremost, Gary Pleasant was a gentleman," Borreggine said. "While I am sure he was respected very much from within the Simmons organization, he was equally admired by others in the industry. When I think of him, I recall so many of his wonderful traits and admirable qualities that made his personality so very warm and engaging."
Mike Rakauskas, now an executive at Comfort Solutions, worked with Pleasant at Sealy and at Simmons. He described Pleasant as "a first-class individual and a real team player. Gary worked hard and also knew how to have fun even through challenging times. He was a pleasure to be around and will surely be missed by so many people that he crossed paths with in the bedding industry."
