Irwin Deister is a past chairman of the manufacturers and services division of the National Stone Association, while Mark Deister served as chairman of the National Aggregates Association. Each is a life member of the board of the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (NSSGA), and both are dedicated to ongoing community service and a policy of donating 5 percent of annual profits to local charities.
Before starting full time with the company in 1951, Irwin Deister attended the University of Michigan, where after completing two years in the engineering school, he transferred to the liberal arts department and received his bachelor’s degree in 1951. He is also a veteran of the U.S. Army where upon completion of study at the U.S. Army Finance School at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Ind., he was retained there as an instructor for 1 ½ years. He has been married to his wife, Jane, for 59 years and is the father of two daughters, and a grandfather of four.
Following in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfather, who remained “on the job” well into their 90s, neither Irwin nor Mark are planning to retire anytime in the near or even far future. Each feels that “it is a pleasure and a privilege to serve this industry.”