Earlier this year, we at BW Packaging and BW Flexible Systems were shocked and saddened to hear about Chris Frank’s sudden passing. Chris spent many years at BWFS during which time he interacted with every department and touched the lives of hundreds of people around the world.
To hear his colleagues speak of him, he left a legacy of faith, dedication, and human leadership that inspired those around him to be the best versions of themselves at every moment. But you don’t have to take my word for it.
Several of Chris’s BW Flexible Systems co-workers took time to reflect on Chris and the impact he left on their lives, both professional and personal.
“From the first time I met Chris, I knew he was going to grow and develop as a leader at BW,” said Lee Davies, Global Field Service Leader. “I was on a visit to our plant in Duncan, South Carolina – it must have been around 2009. Our then VP of Aftermarket told me about this new guy who recently started as Supply Chain Director who since joining had made a huge impact on the business. It was clear from that first interaction that his passion, knowledge, and professionalism for his role was in a league of its own.”
Craig Davies, BW Flexible’s Global Parts Sales Leader, remembers, “For me entering the business from outside of packaging Chris was amazing. He was calm, patient and fun.”
“I distinctly remember the first time I met Chris,” said Sarah Beth Settle, BW Flexible’s Aftermarket Operations Leader. “We were doing a team member outing on Lake Keowee, and we were on the same boat. I was talking about my sister and her two young children and Chris chimed in and said, ‘Oh – I have three kids.’ And it started a conversation. Chris and I just connected talking about our families.”
Thinking of how to describe Chris, Douglas McGraw, Division President at BW Flexible Systems, had a quick answer: “Hardworking, fully committed to faith, family and his job. Chris was a pretty serious guy at work, but he LIT UP when he was talking about his family.”
An Even Keel, An Open Door
“He had an amazing command of information and his job. Even as we significantly increased his scope of responsibility, he maintained this in-depth understanding and knowledge of what was going on in his parts of the business,” said McGraw. “Chris was RELIABLE. As his leader for almost 7 years, I could always depend on Chris to deliver on his commitments.”
“Chris interviewed me, and I was struck by his calm demeanor,” said Craig Davies. “He always appeared to have a master plan and he was leading you along with it. Nothing ever seemed like it was a problem, and everything was dealt with calmly, so that you always felt confident.”
“Chris was always so very much about: I’ve got to take care of you as a person before I can ask you to take care of anything for the business,” said Settle. “I could go in his office and vent any time I was frustrated,” remembers Sarah Beth, “but he never joined in on the venting. He would just listen. And when I was through and had gotten everything out of my system, he would remind me to extend others some grace.”
The Servant Leader
One common thread across so many stories shared about Chris was his selfless approach to leadership; his door was always open and his thoughts were with both the people and the products under his care.
“There's a book by Andy Stanley, Next Generation Leader; Chris recommended it to me,” said Settle. “It's all about servant leadership. That's who Chris was; he was a servant leader. “Chris embodied our culture; he was the living, breathing example of our culture and who we say we are.”
“When I first arrived at Barry-Wehmiller,” remembers McGraw, “Chris’s one piece of advice was that we needed to increase the level of personal accountability across the organization. Chris held himself to a very high standard to deliver on his commitments and expected the same of others.”
“I worked with Chris for about 15 years, and almost every time we met, we’d start by sharing updates on our families,” Lee Davies reflected. “Chris was genuinely interested in the person, what made them tick, what their aspirations were and how he could help them achieve their goals. I have a lot to thank Chris for, he always took the time to coach, lead, develop and encourage me and so many of our teammates.”
“At times he was a mentor, a father figure and a friend,” Craig Davies said. “If he asked a question that you didn’t fully understand he would always say ‘I’m sorry, it was a bad question,’ and rephrase. It’s something I use today.”
“He was such a servant leader that now it's stuck in my brain every morning before I walk in, ‘how can I be like Chris today? How can I help his legacy live on today?’ And I will fail more times and I will succeed,” said Sarah Beth Settle. “But Chris's response to me saying that would have been, ‘But you still will have succeeded.’ That's who he was. He didn't believe in failure. He believed as long as you learned from it, it was still a win.”
A Living Legacy
To those whose lives he touched, Chris’s influence and his spirit will live on.
“He lived and breathed the things we all say, but often find difficult to do,” said Lee Davies. “It’s no surprise to me that through his time at BW, Chris became someone with far-reaching influence and a long-lasting legacy.”
“There’s a piece of advice from Chris that has stayed with me,” Craig Davies shared. “The European business was struggling during COVID and I was really nervous about our performance, and Chris said to me, ‘Don’t get too high when you win, or too down when you lose.’ It just helped to reset me to support the team through a difficult period and since then the European parts team have gone from strength to strength.”
“In my heart, I believe that there's always going to be some presence of him in this building, reminding us of what we're doing,” Settle said. “It's a heavy responsibility on all of us to not just remember his legacy, but to carry it on. We have to be the leaders in the business that Chris saw us as, we have to do that. As hard as it is to come in here and not have him here, I'm feeling very much this weight—and it's a welcome weight—of I've got to make sure that his legacy goes on and I've got to make sure we carry this on.”
Memories of Chris
Chris has been a mentor not just for me, but he even influenced my family and my son. We were all so touched by his kindness, and we miss him.
He has always been very direct, and he sincerely appreciated the commitment, goodwill and spirit of sacrifice in everybody. I always remember his sight when someone in our team was explaining their work and results to other colleagues… The sight of a proud father.
Chris has been the kindest leader I ever had, and I will always remember him.
Alessandro Stiffan, General Director, Italy
You could talk to Chris about anything. He was a huge football fan (English football) and we would always talk about the English Premier League the MLS and the Greenville Triumph. We’d talk about the world and how he would watch the BBC for a balanced opinion on world news.
Craig Davies, Global Parts Sales Leader
The key to Chris was always recognizing others, like Chris was very big on recognition. In his work with supply chain, he had pushed the Planners to think about how they could recognize the Parts Team because if it wasn't for the Parts Team selling parts, the Planners wouldn't have anything to plan, right? And so, he came downstairs one day to the Parts Team with all of the Planners, and each of them were carrying a Gerber Daisy, and they brought each of us a flower and a card from the Planning Team thanking us for our work.
Sarah Beth Settle, Aftermarket Operations Leader
