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Founder of Valve Amplification Co. VAC passes...

...Channing W. Hayes. My deepest condolences to his son Kevin and family. Here is a link to the VAC web site where Kevin gives a touching Memoriam to his beloved father:

http://www.vac-amps.com/cwh.htm

sherod
arthursmuck
451 posts
 
I am obviously a VAC client, but have also been fortunate enough to have come to consider Kevin a friend over the years. I would second Albert's well-worded wishes for love and fond memories to fill the void the Hayes family is feeling with the passing of Chan. My personal experience knowing Kevin is exactly as Mainejac described with one subtle change, he is one of the nicest, most genuine, and classiest people I know period, not just in audio.

We'll hold the Hayes family in our thoughts and hearts as they mourn the passing of their father, husband, mentor and friend.
arthursmuck
451 posts
 
One point of clarification, that will hopefully take nothing away from the well wishes for the Hayes family. Channing Hayes was not the founder of VAC as the thread title states, Kevin was. His father played a key support role in the early years as Kevin started the company, but was not the founder.

I felt it was worth mentioning so there was not a misconception that VAC has now been passed to a new generation or, worse, that it will potentially now fade away without its founder.

Hopefully Kevin does not mind me posting that, and as stated I sincerely hope it does not detract from a nice gesture by our members with this thread.
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
It is a great blessing to have a good father/son relationship, one which Kevin has been kind enough to share with the audio community.

There is "good mourning" and "bad mourning", meaning that some people cope with the death of a loved one well, while others do not. Kevin is showing that he will "mourn well" his father's death, as is evidenced by his memorial to him and their shared faith.

I began to read a fascinating book years ago called "FatherLoss" by Neil Chethik. I admit I made it only halfway through, but am motivated now to pick it up again (The average man reads less than one book/year after high school). It's not a directed religious work; several different world faiths and belief systems are represented among the men sharing their stories, but rather a discussion of the earth-shattering impact of the death of a man's father, as well as personal accounts of how these men coped. The book suggests that if a man does not adjust well to his father's death his entire life will be adversely effected. There are general observations in regard to the time frame of the son's age when his father passed away, i.e. 18-18-32, 33-55, etc. This book could be helpful to some.
fplanner2000
616 posts
 
Kevin's dad was a great guy and I know he will be missed. My condolences to the Hayes family.

It is a great tribute to his dad that Kevin is the way he is.

I consider Kevin a friend and greatly appreciate our conversations on audio, cars, politics, Brittney, etc. I consider myself very fortunate to have spoken with CW over the years and to own VAC gear. Honesty, integrity, humility, quality, ability, the continual quest for improvement and the willingness to help solve issues run rampant at VAC, which is a great thing for all of us in audio. The audio community is much the better for having had Kevin's dad as well as Kevin as a part of it.
arthursmuck
451 posts
 
Great reccomendation for reading Douglas. A friend gave me this book about a year after I lost my Dad, very insightful look into others relationships and grieving processes.
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