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ISSA and Ship Supply News
A
s briely mentioned in the last issue of The Ship Supplier, the
industry lost one of its towering igures – Alan Kotz from the US
- who died after a brave ight against cancer in February.
Alan, of R S Stern Inc, made his appearance on the national stage at
his irst NAMS (USA National Association) Meeting in May of 1973 at
the Barbizon Plaza Hotel in New York City.
His irst exposure to ISSA came a year later when he and wife Lynn
travelled to the Mayfair Hotel in DC to attend his irst ISSA Meeting,
the 19th Annual ISSA Convention and Trade Exhibition.
Alan continued his involvement both at national and international
levels and when American Jim Taylor became ISSA President in 1976,
a post he held until 1981, Alan seized the impetus to jump into the
international arena, attending his second ISSA Meeting in Lausanne,
Switzerland in 1977. It was during Taylor’s presidency the ISSA rule
changed whereby if an ISSA rep (as Taylor was at the time) became
President, his country could appoint another individual. From that day
until 19th February this year, Alan was NAMS ISSA rep. He holds the
record in ISSA for an unprecedented term of 39 years as a national
association’s ISSA rep, many of those years serving on what was then
the ISSA Executive Board as one of the ISSA Vice-Presidents.
Alan Kotz
Alan’s larger-than-life persona reverberated throughout his
career in ship supply. He also headed the oldest ship supply irm in
North America; was the longest serving NAMS President and was
the winner of more COMPASS (and probably ISSA) golf competitions
than anyone else.
During his ship supply career, Alan masterminded two highly
successful ISSA Conventions, irst in Orlando, Florida in 1992 where
over 600 people sat down to the Gala Dinner – a record unbroken to
this day-and again in 2008 in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.
He was a true ship supply and ISSA pioneer. u
Marja Blom-van den Heuvel
I
SSA has been saddened to hear of the
death of a popular female igure within the
association – Marja Blom-van den Heuval,
who died on 5th April, aged 66, after a brave
battle with cancer.
The wife of NeKo Ship Supply CEO
Jon Blom, she was one of the founders of
the NeKo Group and attended many ISSA
Conventions with her husband.
“She was full of life and energy and
very much involved in the growth of
the organisation,” said Eric Bezemer,
Commercial Director for NeKo.
“She took great interest in people and
was well loved for her personal involvement
and an inspiration for many.” u
38 |The Ship Supplier | Issue 69 2016
