Former American Retreaders Association President Rainey Dies

April 7, 2022

John Rainey, past president of the American Retreaders Association (ARA) and a 2015 inductee into the North Carolina Tire Dealers Association (NCTDA) Hall of Fame, died on March 16. He was 94.

Rainey was the owner of City Tire Inc. in Henderson, N.C., and assisted in the founding of the NCTDA.

He served as president of the ARA, a predecessor organization of the Tire Industry Association (TIA), from 1991 to 1993 and also served the association as an advisory board member.

“John was a good board member, executive committee member and a good president,” says Terry Westhafer, who served as ARA president from 1984 to 1988. “He was a small, local retreader, but he was a good one and he took pride in his work.”

TIA CEO Dick Gust says Rainey was open to new ideas and was one of the first to accept the concept of bead-to-bead passenger tire retreading as a new innovation.

“He worked alongside Mary Sikora, Ed Wagner and me to promote the concept of tire recycling within our association, which ultimately led to the tire recycling community joining forces with the International Tire & Rubber Association - formerly called the ARA - and TIA. He was a pioneer who worked for promoting the Tire Industry Association.”

Preceded by his wife, Betty, and daughter, Bobbie Jean Rainey, Rainey is survived by two daughters, Patricia Frazier (Tommy), and Rebecca Aycock (Kirby); two sons, Mike Rainey, president of City Tire (Anora) and Ray Rainey (Jan); six granddaughters; three grandsons; and six great grandchildren.

Latest in People

Sumitomo Rubber North America Inc.
Sumitomo Rubber North America Inc.
Yokohama Tire Corp.