Thought all of my gear-head friends would find this obit interesting…the man behind one of the three key items in any tool box, along with duct tape and a Vice Grip:

From the NY Times:

John S. Barry, Main Force Behind WD-40, Dies at 84

John S. Barry, an executive who masterminded the spread of WD-40, the petroleum-based lubricant and protectant created for the space program, into millions of American households, died on July 3 in the La Jolla neighborhood of San Diego. He was 84.

The cause was pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease, said Garry Ridge, president and chief executive of the WD-40 Company.

The company says surveys show that WD-40, the slippery stuff in the blue and yellow aerosol can, can be found in as many as 80 percent of American homes and that it has at least 2,000 uses, most discovered by users themselves. These include silencing squeaky hinges, removing road tar from automobiles and protecting tools from rust.

Read the full story at the New York Times.

Just got word from his wife that Ronn Hetteen, owner of Hetteen Video, and the son of Arctic Cat and Polaris founder Edgar Hetteen passed away after losing his battle with cancer.

Funeral is set for 1:00 this coming Thursday at the Emmanuel Christian Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It’s located at 7777 University Avenue NE. The phone number there is 763-784-7777. Visitation starts at 12:00 noon, with the funeral at 1:00.

Ronn and his wife Nilla have had a video production studio for over 20 years and they were responsible for getting many of the private collection of videos from Edgar Hetteen put onto DVD.

Charles started snowmobile racing in 1968 and passed on this tradition to his sons. “Charlie” loved fixing the sleds and sharing his wealth of mechanical knowledge to fellow racers. Charles died peacefully at home with his family at his side on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2008. Ed DeVault, his son, died in a racing accident a few years back.

Burial will be held at ST. BERNARD CATHOLIC CHURCH, 2450 Atwood Ave., on Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2008, at 11 a.m. A visitation will be held at the church on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008, from 4 p.m. until 7p.m. and again on Wednesday at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of Mass. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to HospiceCare Inc, 5395 E. Cheryl Parkway, Madison, WI 53711 or to the charity of your choice.

For more information, contact Ryan Funeral Home and Cremation Services 2418 N. Sherman Ave. (608) 249-8257 www.ryanfuneralservice.com.

Photo courtesy of Todd Achtenburg

Jimmy the Greek, as he was known to snowmobile racers all over the snowbelt died of cancer recently. The funeral is today in Eagle River Wisconsin. Jimmy was an early racer and a life long tuner. He’s dyno expert from long ago. He worked with Olav Aaen most of his career.

Funeral is today from 10:00 AM and the memorial service is at 11:00 AM. Call 715-479-4777 for more information.

I did not get a chance to meet Jimmy, but I can tell you lots of people sure looked forward to seeing him at the races every year.

Godspeed Jimmy.

I don’t think anyone could have said it better than brothers Andy and Gary: “Of all the things that we didn’t say to you while you were here the most important is probably that we love you. Being brothers that just isn’t something that was repeated too often.”

Read the full message to Jeff from his brothers at Moyelracingusa.com.

Jeff was the president of Moyle Construction and the primary sponsor of late model racer and World Champion Gary Moyle. Moyle was attempting to parasail from the shore near the camp when he became airborne and lost control in the strong wind. He fell approximately 50 feet from the air and struck a tug boat parked at a dock in the canal.

Funeral arrangements are by Erickson Crowley Funeral home in Calumet Michigan.

I had talked to Jeff several times over the years over some of the issues in late model snowmobile racing. He was a very smart guy, very friendly and very positive about his ambitions in snowmobiling. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends today.

This article from the Associated Press tells more about Ralph. Good read. Also heard today that the book C.J. Ramstad was working on was about 90% complete, and several people have been working on getting it finished and we all may be able to read it someday soon.

Photos courtesy of SnowPod.com

C.J. Ramstad was working on a book about this man and his adventures before his untimely passing. Ralph and his expidition made it all the way to the North Pole in 1968 on their then brand new Ski-Doos.

Ralph was a VIP guest at the 2000 Ski-Doo Reunion and the crw at Waconia had invited him for this years festivities at Waconia 2009. Ralph began riding sleds in the early 1960’s and recognized the vehicles potential.

After riding from Ely Minnesota to St. Paul on a machine, he began planning the trip to the North Pole. More information is available from the St. Cloud times.

Keith Huber was killed in a farm accident May 29th while restoring his original farm in Galva, Illinois. I know I’m really late on this announcement, but I thought better late than never. Keith built a lot of the early Chapparal snowmobiles. One of his earliest prototype Chapparal’s in the collection at the Snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain Wisconsin. You can read much more about Keith and some of his accomplishments here.

Got word this morning that the mother of Jacques (and Gilles) Villeneuve, Georgette, Coupal-Villeneuve passed away at the Joliet Hospital. Racing fans and vintage enthusiasts worldwide and those of us here at vintagesleds.com send our condolances and wishes to Jacque. Tuesday (June 3rd) the family will be in attendance from 1:00 till 3:00 PM at the Coopérative Funéraire d’Autray, 530 rue Frontenac, Berthierville, Qc. J0K 1A0. Telephone : 450 836-4552, E-mail: coopfunautray1@bellnet.ca.