In Memoriam: John Logue

John Logue, the founder and director of the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, died on December 9 after a short battle with a very virulent form of cancer. I knew John for over 25 years and remember well back in 1986 when we first discussed the idea of starting the Ohio Center, which launched the next year. It would be quite a task, requiring long hours, creative energy, and a lot of passion. John was more than up to it. Over the years, the Ohio Center became enormously influential. Thanks to its work, thousands of employees in Ohio still have jobs, many thousands more have large ESOP accounts or have been able to retire with dignity, and even more now work for companies that now value and seek their input and ideas.

John was also a consummate researcher about employee ownership. A political scientist at Kent State, he brought his commitment to objectivity and thoroughness to the task of finding out just how well employee ownership was working and what could make it work better.

Perhaps the best way to remember John, though, is as teacher. He taught company leaders, employees, students, government officials, and many others about employee ownership, but, even more, he taught us about what it means to be a truly decent, committed human being who cared deeply about the lives of others. John was a friend, a mentor, and an inspiration. I was blessed to know him. We all were.