About Us > Lou Kaitz

Lou Kaitz, son of founder Morris Kaitz, was the last of four sons to run the company.

Lou was 11 years old when his father started National Lumber. When he got his driver's license at 16 years old he began making lumber deliveries. Being a family business he worked side by side with his father and brothers daily. He learned all about the business and subsequently passed his knowledge and wisdom from a wealth of experience to the next generation. At 86 years old he still came to the office every day and participated in running the company.

His proudest business accomplishment was to be able to provide health and retirement benefits to his employees. He always put the workers first, having worked hard himself when the family business was still small but growing.

Lou recalled to us when they got their first forklift in the 1950s, and declares that it was like a "gift from heaven! A load of lumber that once took hours to load manually is now loaded in minutes! Most of the materials in our lumberyards today are never even touched by human hands."

He was proud to watch his daughter, Suzi, oversee the growth of Kitchen Views.

His daily presence among us will be missed, but his spirit will live on in the legacy of hardwork and customer care that he taught to us all.