Mikel Messick, 62, of Bartlett, who held three patents on electrical circuitry and another on a plastic extrusion process, died of pancreatic cancer Saturday, May 25, in Alexian Brothers Hospice House in Elk Grove Village.
He was born in Lima, Ohio. In 1961, he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from Ohio Northern University in Ada.
He went to work for Western Electric after graduation. As an electrical engineer at Square D Co. in Columbus, Ohio, he created electrical circuitry that produced three patents.
In 1972, Mr. Messick and his family moved to the Chicago area, living in Lemont and Roselle before settling in Bartlett 13 years ago.
Mr. Messick entered the plastics industry when he was hired by RDN Manufacturing Co. in Bloomingdale. There, he developed a vacuum system creating an extrusion process that received a patent and would become an industry standard, according to his son Todd.
“The work that he did is still used in the plastics industry today,” said the son, who followed his father and entered the plastic extrusion field.
“Wherever I go, people know my father, and they want to know how is the `extrusion guy.'”
Mr. Messick was vice president of sales for RDN, for which he worked 15 years. He then became extrusion sales manager for EPM Sales Co. in Batavia.
He worked most recently in a regional office of Davis-Standard Corp., a Connecticut-based maker of extrusion systems.
“He was an extremely smart man,” said his wife of 40 years, Linda. “And a devoted, loving family man.”
“He set the standard for sales professionals. He would train young pups. including myself, and teach them how to interact with people, building relationships and friendships,” his son said.
He said his father also helped to draft some plastics industry regulations for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
His hobbies included camping, boating, fishing and traveling.
Other survivors include another son, Scott; two brothers, Gerald and Robert; and a grandson.
Visitation will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Countryside Funeral Home and Crematory, 950 S. Bartlett Rd., Bartlett. Services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday in the funeral home.
