Joseph A. Weber, one of the northwest suburbs` pioneering businessmen who founded a one-man labeling company and helped develop it into an international multimillion-dollar corporation, died Saturday in Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. He was 88.
Mr. Weber, of Prospect Heights, was chairman of the board of Weber Marking Systems Inc. of Arlington Heights at his death. He established the company in 1946 in Mt. Prospect, said his son, Joseph A. Weber Jr.
”He was really a pioneer in moving a business to the northwest suburbs,” Weber said of his father. ”He moved out here in 1946 from the city and that just wasn`t done too much back then.
”He was an energetic guy who was willing to take risks,” his son said.
”I`ve always admired and respected him for the guts he had to move out of the city at that time.”
A native of Dickinson, N.D., Mr. Weber came to Chicago in 1928 and began selling used office equipment, his son said. In 1946, Mr. Weber perfected a rapid shipment-addressing technique and moved the business to the suburbs.
Today, Weber Marking Systems includes six plants that employ more than 1,000 people, Weber said. The company reaches annual sales totaling about $80 million, Weber said.
Mr. Weber also is survived by another son, Robert E. Weber; two sisters;
five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Monday in Glueckert Funeral Home Ltd., 1520 N. Arlington Heights Rd., in Arlington Heights, where funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
