Ed Luttrell II, president and owner of Kinematics Marine Equipment and a longtime Pacific Northwest seafood industry executive, died suddenly on 2 September.
Luttrell, 67, who lived in Marysville, Washington, passed away while visiting his family ranch in Roseburg, Oregon. A cause of death will not be discovered until an autopsy can be conducted, James Davis, shop manager for Kinematics, told SeafoodSource.
Employees and customers of Kinematics, along with Luttrell’s family and nearly everyone he came in contact with, are mourning his death, Davis said.
“Everyone adored him. He’s a great guy. He was really fair and really generous,” Davis said.
After graduating from college, Luttrell worked at Peter Pan Seafoods in Alaska.
“Though friends predicted he wouldn’t last two weeks on a fishing trawler, Ed quickly worked his up to superintendent on the 296-foot M/V Royal Sea,” according to his obituary, published in The News-Review.
Luttrell held prominent executive positions in the fishing and marine industries, including American Seafoods and Arctic King.
Then, in 1995, Luttrell started his own company, Dalmoreproduct Vessel Management, Inc., which managed super trawlers based in Russia.
“He was well-known and highly respected throughout the industry as a caring boss, who held everyone in his company to the highest standard, himself included,” Luttrell's obituary said.
In 2004, Luttrell purchased Kinematics Marine Equipment and grew the company into an “internationally renowned marine vessel equipping company,” the article said, building deck equipment for the small fishing and work boat fleets in Alaska, West Coast, Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard of the United States.
“He always tried to stand behind the equipment more than other people. He would fix it, and then talk about payment later,” Davis said. “Customer support was one of the points he wanted to be known for.”
Luttrell was “very generous” with the boatbuilders and worked to grow that side of the business, Davis said.
“We have always sold directly to … all the major boat builders,” he said.
He also donated to the Southeast Alaska Gillnetters Association, the Alaska Purse Seiners Association, and many other community and seafood organizations, according to Davis.
“Ed cherished community; he would go out of his way to help others, even those he barely knew. He would argue that there was ‘no such thing as true altruism’, because he enjoyed helping others, and that joy was his own reward,” Luttrell's obituary said.
Photo courtesy of Lydia Allen and The News Review
