It is with great sadness that I report the passing of Sheila Wippich, Chief Care Officer (CCO) at Denning Electronics Corporation, on September 30, 2018. She’s shown here piloting our boat Branch Office on a sunset cruise.
CCO relates to Sheila’s role in the success and growth of Denning Electronics over the last 35 years. Though she did not become an employee until 2009, over the first three years she provided all family income and incredible emotional support as I struggled to find a toehold in a new profession.
Denning was founded by Sheila’s cousins Dennis and Inge Collins in 1982. I was the first employee, and became President in 1986 when Dennis and Inge formed a second company, NSSC. My position involved travel – mostly by car – in an area ranging from Eastern Pennsylvania to the Dakotas. Our first child was born on Christmas Day in 1985, and by the first week of January I was far away in Minnesota on sales calls. A week later we bought and moved into our first home, and two months after that she was back on the job at a downtown Chicago travel agency. Looking back, I’m humbled by her dedication and faith in me and the company.
Denning and NSSC were closely tied until 2009 when NSSC was sold and we became sole owners of Denning. Sheila asked if she was the right person to help guide Denning through this new phase, since she wasn’t sure I felt she could transition from homemaker to office manager. Admittedly I was hesitant, though my doubts quickly vanished.
Any Denning partner from that time on will tell you Sheila held our team together. Her social awareness, hard work, joy, love, and dedication made it a pleasure for us to come to work. As one longtime partner recently related to me, Sheila was the perfect complement to my nerdiness.
Services were managed by Moss Family Funeral Homes in Batavia, IL. Her obituary may be found here.
If you’d like to read about Sheila’s journey as a Mantle Cell Lymphoma and stem cell transplant patient, please send an e-mail and I’ll provide the password for “Checking-in With Sheila, above.
Keniel Wippich
President
Denning Electronics Corporation