With a sad heart, we lost a true friend of AquaNew on Saturday, June 29, 2013. Terry Pate, the plant manager at Keystone Water Company in Lake Placid, was a private man and too busy and humble to pose for any photo (he almost slid off the edge of this photo, wearing a blue shirt).
Terry was a tinkerer. He kept bottling machines, some decades old, running and in sync with new-age computer programs. Terry was dedicated to the relentless production demands of the water plant. He was the first one in the early morning hours to turn on the machines, and he turned them off after nightfall each day.
In 2007, he met AquaNew’s Rob Gourley, a fellow tinkerer, with his novel gas machine and hopes of producing a newly discovered wellness water. Both men became fast friends, overcoming plumbing and production challenges over the subsequent years. Anyone who has ever experienced the bottling business knows the machines have their own personalities such that filling tanks will cascade water to drench those nearby, speed conveyors will jam plastic bottles, and heat tunnels will not always shrink sheets of plastic correctly around bottle packs.
For the last year or so, Terry lived a painful life, leaving hospitals after treatments that seemed to make him feel worse. He continued to work in extreme hot conditions each day that he could find the stamina. His work dedication and drive never failed even on the day of his death when he wanted to know the call-in numbers for a teleconference on Monday.
We extend our sympathy to Terry’s family and his best friend and co-worker, Sadra Horsley, another true friend of AquaNew.
Terry, we will not ever forget your endurance and dedication that made the production of Watt-Ahh® a realty and a success.
