IN MEMORIAM | Aaron W. Hendry 1936-2016

Aaron Hendry had family connections in the Tampa area maritime and ship repair industry through his dad, Captain F.M. Hendry.

But when a teenage Aaron Hendry went to work for Hendry Corp., which his father launched in 1926, he started as a deckhand. That was in 1952. The young Hendry worked his way up to boatman, foreman, mate and leverman. And later in life he was a top executive at the company, where he led it to new markets and nearly 400 employees. Another notable accomplishment: He initiated an employee stock ownership plan last year, an uncommon feat in the maritime industry.

Hendry died at his home Oct. 3, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 80.