It is with sadness and also with great joy that our colleague, Denis Laplante, is retiring after 48 years of service at Texel. Denis joined Texel in 1972. He practically watched the company grow, under the three different owners. He first assisted the entrepreneurial work of the Chassé brothers, who founded Texel in 1967. Four brothers; Germain, Gilbert, Marcel & Richard Chassé, installed the first nonwoven production lines to create a multitude of products, such as the Curltex and the Series 76. He then saw the acquisition of Texel by the public company, ADS inc. Under the leadership of ADS, the company experienced great growth and diversification of markets into the medical sector, automotive, horticulture, filtration and geotextiles. All of this was made possible thanks to the Quebecers ingenuity. Finally, since 2016, Texel has joined the ranks of Lydall and is now part of the global elite in the nonwoven industry.
Denis started as a Production Operator, and then joined the Research and Development team. He helped install our prototyping line in Texel’s lab. Denis is one of the main architects of the prototyping laboratory. He constantly reminded us of his roots, which were anchored in the Beauce region, telling us about his father who was a farmer. His father always had three tools in his overalls. A pair of pliers, some fencing wire and some rusty nails. With this, he carried out many projects. It was his way of telling us that we had to be very ingenious with few resources. It is with this ingenuity that he created the Thermoplus multilayer thermal Feltpack from the Sorel company. Denis gained well deserved recognition with the patent on the Summumtex insole, which can still be found in Canadian military boots. His trailblazing spirit allowed him to develop a flaming equipment (singeing) to add to the production process, to allow lamination and surface treatment of nonwovens.
He also created a hydrophobic treatment atomizer for Texel’s first automotive contract. Those who worked with Denis often heard him say “I’m counting my steps”, which was his way of saying that you must think before you act. Denis leaves us an immeasurable technological legacy. A legacy that will continue to grow with the Texel team in place.
With his 48 years of service (our most senior colleague), he can truly say that he saw each of us at our beginning at Texel… We all had the pleasure to work with him, and wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement. You will be missed. Thank you, Denis.
