Marius “Pepe” Griffo, a longtime member of the foodservice equipment industry has passed away due to a chronic illness. He was 82 years old.

Griffo’s got his start in foodservice as a draftsman for Pittsburgh-based Tafco, a company that manufactures walk-in refrigerators. He then headed west to take a position with Fred Schmid and Associates, a California-based foodservice consulting firm. Griffo eventually made his way to Traulsen, a manufacturer of various refrigeration products, where he started out by serving as regional salesperson in California. Griffo eventually moved to Traulsen’s Texas headquarters where he eventually became national sales manager and vice president of sales for Traulsen.

“He never forgot his design roots and his respect for Consultants,” recalls longtime friend Michael Posternak of PBAC, a New York-based manufacturers’ rep firm that has had Traulsen on its line card since day one. Posternak also worked for Traulsen prior to helping start PBAC. “Pepe worked for me and I worked for Pepe. Regardless of the ranking, we loved working with each other.”