Bill Mongelluzzo | Mar 27, 2011 3:48PM EDT
Retired executive Ronald P. Schley, a veteran of 33 years in the shipping industry, died March 14 in Sparks, Nev., after a lengthy illness. He was 72.
Schley was one of the early breed of shipping executives hired by Sea-Land Service Inc. who helped to launch the carrier’s container operations in Asia in the 1960s. He was hired by Sea-Land in Oakland in 1965 and later moved to Vietnam in operations and equipment control.
Unlike some shipping executives, though, Schley was able to cross over into sales and marketing. He worked with Sea-Land for 22 years, holding management positions in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea as well as in the New York area.
When the Asian container lines in the mid-1980s expanded their operations in the U.S., they hired executives from U.S. flag lines such as Sea-Land to set up their operations on the American model. Schley was hired to head up the sales and marketing efforts of Hanjin Shipping Co. in Long Beach. He later served as president of DSR Senator Line for one year before retiring in 1998.
“He was a true gentleman – always dressed impeccably, never late and never forgot he was a United States Marine,” said his friend and former Sea-Land executive Gerry Cople.
Schley is survived by his widow, Jane, daughters Michelle, Cerise and Anne, son Tim and three grandchildren.
--Contact Bill Mongelluzzo at bmongelluzzo@joc.com.