Jerry Lorbeck, 78, of Northlake, former owner of Bi-Link Metal Specialties in Elmhurst who in his retirement began a mining business in Montana, died Thursday, Sept. 20, in his vacation home near Helena, Mont.
As a child in Stevens Point, Wis., Mr. Lorbeck had a penchant for collecting rocks. From a young age he impressed family and friends with his knowledge of geological facts.
“As far back as I can remember, my dad was a rock nut,” said his daughter Sue Myers. “He had several rock collections that he used to teach us about rocks and their origin. He was always reading up on the subject or watching television specials whenever they aired.”
Still in his teens and with only a high school education, Mr. Lorbeck moved to Chicago to start a business. Within days, he was hired to do maintenance in a tool and die shop. A supervisor soon recognized his potential and took him under his wing, helping him become a toolmaker and diemaker.
“He was not only smart, but he was a hard worker,” Myers said. “His work ethic was hard to match.”
In 1964, Mr. Lorbeck went to work as a toolmaker and diemaker for Bi-Link Metal Specialties, where he worked part time on the night shift. In the early years Bi-Link designed and built stamping dies for customer orders. During the day he worked as the tool room foreman for Laystrom Manufacturing in Chicago.
During the late 1960s, Mr. Lorbeck rose through the ranks at Bi-Link and became the company’s owner and president in 1969. He also started Elmhurst Stamping and Manufacturing, a punch press facility next to Bi-Link.
“My father was what you might call a serial entrepreneur,” Myers said. “Making something out of nothing was what interested him most. He wasn’t so much interested in making money as he was in meeting the next challenge.”
In 1983, Mr. Lorbeck retired, stepping down as Bi-Link’s president to spend more time at his home in Montana. Soon after, he started Lovestone Mining, which mined precious and semiprecious stones, such as rubies, garnets and sapphires, from rock formations in Montana. He sold the stones to jewelry-makers.
“I’d always said he was born in the wrong century,” Myers said. “In Montana he was finally doing the kind of work he was meant to do all along. Had he been around during the gold rush, he’d have been a millionaire.”
An avid outdoorsman, Mr. Lorbeck also enjoyed fishing and hunting.
Other survivors include his wife, Orma; a son, Ken; another daughter, Cheryl Lusnia; and four grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Friday in Ahlgrim Funeral Home, 567 S. Spring Rd., Elmhurst. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in the funeral home. JERRY LORBECK, 78
