The Tire Industry Association (TIA) is mourning the loss of Past-President Steve Disney, who died on Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013, at 56 years of age.
Disney died from complications following artificial heart transplant surgery. (See "Tire industry's own Steve Disney dies.")
“We are deeply saddened by the news of Steve’s passing,” says Executive Vice President Roy Littlefield. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Disney family as they mourn the loss of such a great man and industry leader.”
A recipient of TIA’s Industry Leadership Award in 2003, Steve will forever be remembered as the TANA (Tire Association of North America) president who worked with Tom Raben, ITRA (International Tire & Rubber Association) president prior to the merger of both associations.
As Littlefield says, they put aside past differences between the groups and did what was best for the members and industry. Disney's vision and focus on the future led to the discussions that gave life to what became TIA, the strongest tire-related association in the world.
"It’s important that we always remember the industry leaders who had the foresight to create TIA over a decade ago,” says Randy Groh, TIA president.
“As the first president of the new association back in 2002, Steve set the standard for leadership, and his emphasis on maintaining a consistently high level of service to the members continues to this day. We are forever indebted to him and other past-presidents who have worked so hard to make TIA the first class organization that it has become.”
