September 28, 1952 - June 18, 2008 David Wendt, founder of Van Products in Raleigh, North Carolina succumbed to cancer on June 18th. David was the son of Lucy Wendt and the late William H. Wendt, Jr. David grew up sweeping the floors and doing odd jobs for gas money in the family business, Orthopedic Service Company. His father began the business in 1954 primarily for the purpose of making braces for polio victims. Directly after attending college at UNC-Wilmington, David came to work for his Dad's company that had grown and progressed into handling more durable medical equipment particularly wheel chairs. David's natural interest in automobiles and in "fixing" things lent itself well to the growing need that he saw for vehicle and van modifications that would permit wheel chair accessibility. Soon he found himself working from 8:00 to 5:00 building braces and traveling Eastern North Carolina then going home, having dinner and working from 6:00 to midnight installing wheelchair equipment into vans in the garage at his Dad's house. Officially begun in 1972, Van Products under David's guidance gained a reputation for quality work. David was in the business of finding ways to make things work for the physically handicapped. Sometimes having a basically impossible situation made you create ideas that would work and Van Products pioneered their fair share of new ground. David once attested to having spent many a sleepless night wondering exactly how to engineer something for a disabled patient, with their safety being of utmost concern. He enjoyed working one on one with his customers and didn't mind getting into the garage with his technicians to help figure out exactly how something needed to be done. As a hands-on business man, David made sure that each customer was treated like they were his only customer, a philosophy he learned from his father and one that served him well as his company grew to become one of the largest in the Southeast. Like his father, David was truly a family man and even with much of his time and energy invested into Van Products, he married and is survived by his wife of 32 years, Libby Weaver Wendt. They have two children; daughter, Lindsey Wendt of Raleigh; son, Lee Wendt, daughter-in-law, Elisha and grandson, Zander of Wilmington. In addition to his mother, Lucy Wendt of Raleigh and sister, Julie Miller of Wilmington, his brother, Bill Wendt III, who continues to own and operate Orthopedic Service Company, also survives David. The business, Van Products, has now been left in the hands of Tim Harrell and Lee Wendt. Tim worked under David for 24 years and was mentored and chosen by David to take over as the present CEO/Owner. Lee continues to handle the general management of the Wilmington location, along with now being part Owner/Operator of the company. Both will continue to operate the business with the same philosophy and vision incorporated by David over the past thirty-six years.