Warren H. Kaye, former president and CEO of marine exhaust products manufacturer Centek Industries, died June 23. He was 76.
An obituary said Kaye was president and CEO of Centek in Thomasville, Ga., for more than 14 years before he retired in 2007. He was considered to be the driving force behind the company’s climb to become the world’s largest manufacturer of wet marine exhaust products.
A graduate of Conestoga High School, Denison University and The Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia, Kaye was employed by Atlantic Richfield Co. in Jacksonville, Fla., as district manager for 14 years.
He moved to London, England, as director of marketing for Arco Nuclear and Medical and was a business and marketing professor at the Philadelphia College of Textile and Science in Philadelphia. He was named Professor of the Year before moving to Georgia to run Centek.
Kaye was involved with the Rotary Club and received the Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow award during his time in Georgia. He was also an avid golfer and had memberships at a number of courses.
Kaye called Hershey’s Mill, West Chester, Pa., home and is survived by his wife of 54 years, Mary Jane Kaye; daughters Karen Pelton of Chester Springs, Pa., and Wendi Downey of West Chester; four grandchildren, Kaye Pelton, Frederic Downey, Greg Pelton and Jacob Downey; and two sons-in-law, Scott Pelton and Steve Downey.
