Not sure how I feel about finding work pals old tool box

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

Just a tool / memory / nostalgia issue on my mind today:

So I had a visit today from a guy from one our manufacturers. During the chat the subject comes up about people retiring / leaving the plant and then he says "yeah, I gotta figure out what to do with Bob's old toolbox". Bob (name changed for obvious reasons) was my first supervisor. He was my only real mentor in turning wrench pulling into a paycheck. He was do-everything kinda guy and taught me to be the same. He also taught me to buy quality tools that won't let you down on the job.

I only worked with him for about 4 months directly in the shop everyday as he left after that. I was hired to be his replacement when he got offered a job to start up a service department for that manufacturer. After he left our dealer, I worked with Bob on issues over the phone often and occasionally I'd go to the factory or he'd come out we'd work together on special projects. This went on for about 10 years before he was killed in a car accident. After which time the factory made the "top tech of the year" service award and name it after him (I got my plaque hanging in the office). Now, Bob was a tool nut. He had everything and the biggest SO KRL box you could get back in 95 when I started.

Today I found out NO ONE ever claimed his tool box. The supervising engineer that he answered to kept it "safe" after Bob died and he is retiring now. It's STILL sitting in the R and D shop right now. He's been gone for more than a dozen years. Part of me wants to hook up a trailer and drive down there this week and haul it home just to keep any "vultures" from taking any of it now that the whole department is changing hands - I feel like none of the new people even deserve to use any of it / won't have the appreciation he had for good tools. I also feel like anyone who had a direct connection to Bob should have dibs on it over selling on CL or something. But then, part of me just wants to ask for a small item from the box as a memento because it's not like we where related or that great of friends, just work buddies.

 

[mikebaker1129]

See if you can purchase the box?
Having some of Bob's will mean something to you as you knew him and he was your mentor.
They will just be tools to the other fellas. Every time you use one of those tools you will think of him and the good times !

 

[JoeMA]

Does he have family? How about offering it to them? If they are not interested in the box, then offer to sell it on their behalf? They might even tell you to keep it.

 

[yamaha0343]

Any way of reaching out to Bob's family? He might have a son that would love to have their dad's tools.

 

[metalhead212121]

X3 on contacting family....

I have a similar sad story... I just started working at a dealership and there was 4 techs and 5 tool boxes. As time went by I got to know everybody in the dealership (small place obviously) and asked whats the deal with 4 techs and 5 tool boxes. It turns out that "Bob" took his own life and nobody ever claimed it. Towards the end of "Bob's" life he would be sitting there in the shop during our lunch break and just break down and cry. Rumor had it that "Bob" had no family other than a brother that was apparently messing around with his wife. The brother came in didn't want the tool box and only wanted to know if he could sell it to somebody else in the shop. Nobody took him up on the offer. That box sat there and collected dust for the year I was there. Eventually the tools were divided up among the employees and the box became the shop box to hold shop tools.

Thank god I wasn't around to see that go down... I heard about it from my one co-worker after I left. Still makes me sick to my stomach just thinking about it...

 

[ChevyEFI]

My friend inherited his brother's tools. He made sure they made their way partially to one of the surviving kids who became a tech. I think a svc. cart I ended up with was from the late brother / friend.

It's really tough because you think of the good times and it would just be right if Bob (or William) were back at work with you. I worked with Will briefly and a lot of his virtues made their way to his brother.

I think your engineer friend is suggesting you're in line to maybe make good use of some of Bob's stuff. But it doesn't feel right. Ever.

 

[jd_1138]

Any way of reaching out to Bob's family? He might have a son that would love to have their dad's tools.

I am sure he had no son, or else the son probably would've claimed it already. But I'd still try to contact the family. If none of them want it, I'd get it out of there before someone who never even knew him slaps it on CL.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

If no one from the family can be found or wants it, I bet Bob would rather you have it than a stranger. And it's not like you're trying to profit off his misfortune.

 

[Roberts210]

GET IT! He would want you to have it.

 

[FullRaceMerc]

I have a few tools that were given to me by my grandfather & former employers. I think of each of them when I use those tools to this day. Not a mushy breaking down sort of thing. Just a little thinking of them while those tools continue to work.

I think it would be fitting if at least some of Bob's tools could continue to do work in the hands of those who admire him. If Bob has a widow, using the value of those tools to help her in his absence would also be good. But selling them to line the pockets of vultures isn't right. If there is no widow, then maybe giving a tool or few to each of the recipients of the "top tech of the year service award" named after Bob might be another approach.

 

[Mohawk Dave]

If no one from the family can be found or wants it, I bet Bob would rather you have it than a stranger. And it's not like you're trying to profit off his misfortune.

This.

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

The family issue is what kinda struck me about it. He had a wife and a late-teen daughter when he passed. His brothers and father also all live right in the area. We (some other coworkers / factory guys and I) all discussed it at the time. We figured it would be dealt with after a little while, after the grieving and all died down. We figured his wife would need help dealing with it, but evidently, nothing ever came of that.

I think I'm just gonna say something to the president of the company and just see what comes of it.

 

[TheGrooveking]

One of the regrets I have is my grandfather who had been in industrial maintenance had retired a few years before and eventually had a few heart attacks, so my brother, sister and mother would take turns watching him so in case he was to have another one that we could slip a nitroglycerin pill under his tongue because me grandmother could not physically do it. So after a few years of this my grandfather looked at me and told me to go downstairs and to start taking his tools because I was the only one who was going to use them.

He had a full 65' x 45' basement shop with an electronics bench, full woodworking shop, and tools for every trade. He had a 3 car garage which was loaded with tools. He even told my parents for me to take them, but I said "no grandpa" you use them, but he just would sit on the couch. Well a few weeks later grandma died so my aunt & uncle and two cousins moved in with him. Then there was a big riff in the family and I never ended spending much time over there.

A few years after my grandfather passed away I found out from my cousin that he and my uncle (his father) had taken my grandfathers files and ground them down on either his Baldor 8" or 10" grinders, WTF? These two idiots didn't know which end of a screwdriver to hold. Of course by this time they had given away all of my grandfathers tools. Yet my father had asked me when I was 10 years old if he was to die what would I want of his, I told him your tools and you guns. When my father died 34 years later I received his tools and guns and everytime I use those I think of my father showing me how to properly use them.

Still to this day I am so mad at myself for not taking those tools, so my recommendation is do what you can to get those tools, for obviously Bob had a lot of mutual respect for you and saw in you early on your capabilities, so if there is no family of Bob's wanting it, do what you can to get those tools, if you don't succeed at least you'll know you tried, and besides those KRL's are some of the best built boxes ever.

TheGrooveking

 

[WNYflyer]

Any vocational type schools in the area? Perhaps take a few memento's and turn over the rest to one of those schools then stuff (hopefully) will be divided up amongst young folks just getting started?. Heck I would probably want to be there when stuff got divided up so I know the right people actually got the tools.

 

[Dave455]

What a sad situation!

I think the worst thing to do would be nothing. Either stuff will start walking, or the whole lot will end up under control of someone who never knew the guy, who will most likely sell it for his own profit!

Legally, and morally, it belongs to his next of kin. Personally, I'd load it up and take it home to secure it, and try to contact the family. Now, you don't know the situation here. If the father or brothers are tool folks, they may be cursing to this day the folks they think stole their son's/ brothers tools. If so you'll probably make lifelong friends by inviting them to collect it!

Of course, it's feasible it will end up with a wife /daughter who just see's it as a source of a few extra $. In this situation I'd probably ask if I could buy the lot for a reasonable price. They'd probably be delighted!

Alternatively, just take it home and keep it! If you don't it's sounding like somebody else will!

 

[WWShop]

If the tools have been sitting for years then I would go take them. Anyone who knew this gentleman well enough would have known about all his tools and would have taken them, and anyone who would have wanted to make money on the tools would have done so by now. Take them, clean them, and use them, and you will appreciate it every time you use one of your mentor's tools and he would appreciate someone who has the knowledge to use them and use them correctly.

 

[chruler]

Maybe you could organize a group of guys you work with and put together a formal request that, in light of the fact that you've all known and been mentored by Bob, you'd like to be the executors of the tool box.

I think all involved will want this treasure to go to the right hands. Your request may be just the answer their looking for in disposing of this property.

 

[lwlobo]

If allowed and you can afford it, take them home (or to your shop?) and send the widow a check for the fair used value. Or suggest the company buy them and they become shop tools.

 

[RM209]

The family issue is what kinda struck me about it. He had a wife and a late-teen daughter when he passed. His brothers and father also all live right in the area. We (some other coworkers / factory guys and I) all discussed it at the time. We figured it would be dealt with after a little while, after the grieving and all died down. We figured his wife would need help dealing with it, but evidently, nothing ever came of that.

I think I'm just gonna say something to the president of the company and just see what comes of it.

You're doing the right thing. Mention it to to president or your friend at the company, and then contact one of the family members; they'll be able to contact his wife. Sometimes it takes people a long time to process all of the different emotions that come with a death. The wife may ask you to help dispose of the tools, or might not care at all. Whatever happens, you'll have tried to help out the family of a friend.

RM209

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

Well, from my memory of the time when he passed, my boss told his boss the day of the accident "Lock up Bobs stuff and don't let his relatives in the shop at all. Help his wife deal with it when it's time." He expected them to flock in like vultures just to sell the stuff and make a few bucks. I'd guess the wife just never had any inclination to go back and deal with it.

Talking with the factory guy yesterday I realized it probably never got dealt with partially because all of us are / have always been busy as heck and it's a fairly large amount of stuff to deal with....it's not like clearing some office workers space - collecting a few things out of desk drawers to haul home in a cardboard box in the trunk of a car. I remember helping him pack the tools out of our shop to move to the factory - took us a good bit of the day and filled most of an enclosed car trailer with it all. It didn't take up all the space, but he was definitely pushing the weight limits of that trailer.....and he added more side lockers and wall cabinets he told me about later once he was established on that end.

The other issue that make me feel like I need to do something NOW is the factory is expanding - renovating old shop space and building whole new facilities for some departments, moving everyone all around and I'm afraid Bobs set of tools will get "lost" in the confusion, especially with the chief engineer he worked closest with now being gone as well.

 

[metaldad]

go get it NOW, before the vultures finally home in.
worry about what to do with it, AFTER it's in a safe location

 

[RedneckWelder]

Get to it now

 

[eborcim]

I'd rent another enclosed trailer and go get it. If nothing else help his wife sell it. You are just picking up where it was left off and doing it for the memory of a friend.

 

[a52-830]

were it i, and they were willing to let me have it, i would go get it, and keep it.

in the spirit of the man who helped me get started, i would loan tools out to people just getting started, hoping to get them back once they became established, but happy to know that even if i didnt, that he was still helping people in some way.

talking to his family would be nice, but i dont consider it necessary. the note leaves me with the impression that it has been years since his passing, and i dont think opening old wounds would be worthwhile. if they did show up, i would explain what i had done, and offer to give them any or all of what was left if they wanted it.


stev

 

[isr2kba]

Fond memories and good intentions aside, Bob's property needs to be dealt with by (or minimally with the blessing of) Bob's heirs. Anything less is theft, plain and simple.

 

[CTyankee]

What a sad situation!

I think the worst thing to do would be nothing. Either stuff will start walking, or the whole lot will end up under control of someone who never knew the guy, who will most likely sell it for his own profit!

Legally, and morally, it belongs to his next of kin. Personally, I'd load it up and take it home to secure it, and try to contact the family. Now, you don't know the situation here. If the father or brothers are tool folks, they may be cursing to this day the folks they think stole their son's/ brothers tools. If so you'll probably make lifelong friends by inviting them to collect it!

Of course, it's feasible it will end up with a wife /daughter who just see's it as a source of a few extra $. In this situation I'd probably ask if I could buy the lot for a reasonable price. They'd probably be delighted!

Alternatively, just take it home and keep it! If you don't it's sounding like somebody else will!

I think any action you take should be done with this as it's basis. I'm surprised the issue hasn't been addressed already. Out of sight, out of mind I guess.

Seems like the supervisor is looking to pass the baton. IMO the only passing should be to the surviving family..physically or monetarily. The best way for you to honor the guy is to see that outcome realized....and don't let anyone do or suggest otherwise.

 

[jeepinerdeep]

Subbed for the outcome Doc.

 

[B_Bimmer]

Fond memories and good intentions aside, Bob's property needs to be dealt with by (or minimally with the blessing of) Bob's heirs. Anything less is theft, plain and simple.

100% truth

 

[dam427]

GET IT! He would want you to have it.

X2

Better to beg forgiveness if you've misread the situation.

 

[ianguilly]

Interested to hear what happens.

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

I update this when I get to talk to a few people connected to the situation. I'm gonna first ask if they have any idea why the family never claimed it. I'm sure they had contact with the wife after his passing.

 

[John in OH]

go get it NOW, before the vultures finally home in.
worry about what to do with it, AFTER it's in a safe location

X2!

It sounds as if "control" of Bob's tools will soon be lost by those that have been keeping them safe all these years. You need to act.

Collect up his tools, transport them to a safe location, then figure out how to deal with them ...... whether it be to his family, worthy co-workers, tech school students, or whatever. You have the interest and concern, and once safe, you'll have the time to think it all through and make rational and fair decisions regarding disposition.

Bob will appreciate it!

 

[rockwithjason]

GET IT! He would want you to have it.

agreed. you wouldn't regret going after it.

 

[gnpenning]

AS mentioned the only thing that matters are that Bob's wishes be granted what ever that is. If he had a will he picked how it should go. If he didn't he decided to let his wife decide. Either way it needs to be respected. NO ONE else has any say or rights.

The fact that one of the boss's said don't let his wife anywhere near them means he had something in mind that didn't include Bob's wishes. I wouldn't trust anything coming from him. He was stealing from a widow and a child.

Most likely the heirs didn't remember or know what he had and had plenty on their plate already. At that time it was the least of their worries. Someone should have loaded them up and delivered them years ago.

The widow may not have had a way to move them or knew the value. Give her a call and find out. This is simple. The executor of the estate will now where they should go and know one else. With out knowledge of his written or expressed wishes there is no way of knowing what he really wanted done.

 

[Heavy Metal Doctor]

Small update - talked to a few people involved and found out the family is definitely completely out of the picture. The factory did actually buy it off of the wife.
I have someone on-site checking on what's to happen with it now. At very least I should be able to get some small memento, even if the tools / box do end up transferring to new regime of that department.