Samuel M. Yonan was only 5-foot-4, but when he spoke, American carpet dealers listened. Mr. Yonan, 69, the longtime president of Yonan Carpets in Downers Grove who drafted a code of ethics to promote fairness among carpet sellers, died of a neurological disorder Monday, June 19, in his Wheaton home. A Chicago native who started cleaning rugs at his family carpet business when he was 12, Mr. Yonan worked briefly for a competing carpet company before taking the helm at Yonan Carpet in 1956. In 1978, he was elected president of the Retail Flooring Institute, then the major trade group for American carpet dealers, and wrote an ethics code advising rug dealers not to overcharge their customers. “He probably would be the smallest man in our industry to do the most in the carpet business,” said his brother, David Yonan. “Financial rewards were not my brother’s goals. His goals were quality, integrity, selling properly and not misleading customers.” Though Mr. Yonan’s criticisms of his own industry garnered mixed responses, he was widely respected and was a member of the fledgling Carpet One, a nationwide carpet dealers’ cooperative, his brother said. A U.S. Air Force veteran who took part in search and rescue missions during the Korean War, he owned a small plane and enjoyed flying. He was a member of the Assyrian Universal Alliance Foundation. In addition to his brother, survivors include his wife of 43 years, Nancy; two daughters, Sandy and Susie; and two sisters, Esther Franz and Ruth Iyengar. A visitation will be held from noon to 3 p.m. Friday in the Williams-Kampp Funeral Home, 430 E. Roosevelt Rd., Wheaton. Funeral services will be at 3 p.m. Friday in the funeral home.
