Lincoln Electric Remembers Valued Life-Long Team Members

Lincoln Electric remembers long-time members of their team, who recently died. Former CEO Donald F. Hastings, age 88, died in December 2016. He had a 44-year career at the company, beginning in 1953 as a trainee in the welding school. Omer W. Blodgett, age 99, died in January. He was a welding industry pioneer and renowned authority on the design of welded connections. Blodgett spent 60 years working for Lincoln Electric.

Both men contributed to the success of the company and the industry. 

Hastings held various leadership positions. In 1986, he was named president and served as CEO and chairman of the board from 1992-1997. During his tenure, he celebrated achieving Lincoln Electric’s $1 billion sales goal in 1995, the company’s centennial anniversary.

Blodgett became involved in welding when he struck his first arc at the age of 10 with his father’s Lincoln Stable-Arc welding machine in Minnesota. Through his high-school years, Blodgett worked as a welder at his father’s company and became certified as a welder for high-pressure applications in 1938. He joined Lincoln Electric after World War II at the urging of James F. Lincoln, a life-long friend.

Blodgett authored numerous manuals and textbooks for the arc welding industry, including Design of Weldments and Design of Welded Structures. The American Welding Society recognized his contributions in 1962, 1973, 1980 and 1983, when he was awarded the A. F. Davis Silver Medal for his work in structural design. From the American Institute of Steel Construction, he received the T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award in 1983, the Engineering Luminary Award in 1997 and AISC’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 1999.