ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILL.—He was the consummate professional— friendly, honest, hard working, mentor—and it was those qualities that made him one of the most-respected leaders in the flooring industry during his 38-year career. On his 79th birthday, Sept. 2, Dean B. McKinney passed away after years of battling illness.

A charter inductee into the World Floor Covering Association’s Industry Hall of Fame in 1992, McKinney was known for his ability to make everyone in the room feel comfortable.

“He was one of those rare human beings that seem larger than life,” said Nick Polus of Belmondo Ceramics, who worked for McKinney at Carson Pirie Scott, at the time the industry’s largest carpet distributor. “His enthusiasm and energy exploded in his robust voice and heartfelt laughter and made you glad to be in the same room with him.”

Born in Minneapolis in 1930, McKinney spent his entire professional career in the floor covering industry. But first, he graduated from the University of Minnesota and then served his country in the Air Force during the Korean War for two years. Following his discharge he attended Indiana University’s School of Business Executive Program before embarking on his storied career.

McKinney entered the industry in 1954 as a marketing rep for Armstrong World Industries in the flooring company’s New York district office. Two years later he left Armstrong and headed to Chicago to work for Carson Pirie as a residential sales rep.

In 1964 he was transferred back home to Minneapolis and became Carson’s assistant district manager. McKinney was promoted to district manager a year later and, then, in 1967 was named the district manager of Cleveland.

By 1969, the company recognized his professional business and people skills and, combined with his previous experience at Armstrong, named him vice president of sales and marketing for Roxbury Carpet Co., at the time a subsidiary of the distributor.

Two years later he was brought back to the corporate office and was named vice president and general manager of the distributor’s wholesale flooring division.

In 1980, he was again promoted, this time to executive vice president and COO, and then to president and CEO in 1984. In 1986, he hit the pinnacle, being named chairman. A year later McKinney retired. At that time, Carson’s sales were $175 million a year, with more than $100 million coming from just carpet.

But his ability to get different parties to work harmoniously as well as being known as one of the most honorable gentleman in the industry quickly ended his days in the sun when the entire flooring industry came to him for help.

It was 1987 and the industry was forming the Floor Covering Consumer Credit Association (FC*CCA), better known as the Flex credit card. The concept was to pool money from manufacturers and distributors and use that to back an industry-wide private label credit card. While noble in deed, someone was needed that not only knew the industry, but could manage a large group of individuals and that they could trust since there was a great deal of financial confidentiality to be respected.

McKinney was the easy choice, and he was coaxed out of retirement to raise the seed money and get the non-profit organization off the ground.

Roger Hunt, who was McKinney’s right-hand man at Carson, replaced him as executive director of FC*CCA and knew him for more than 30 years, recalled, “Dean was able to raise $842,000 in six months. He was a tremendous person to know and work for. He had the utmost integrity and was well thought of by everyone. That’s what made him the perfect person to lead theFlex program.”

Hunt noted McKinney’s experience on both the mill and wholesaler levels “gave him great understanding and appreciation of partnerships and the importance both play in properly serving the retailers and ultimately the consumer. He treated everyone— vendors and customers, employees and friends—with respect and fairness. And, he was very giving and supportive of his employees and their families.”

Polus concurred, noting, “Dean instilled confidence in those around him and was never too busy to take the time to encourage others to do their best and then recognize their achievements when they did. He always conveyed the feeling that he really cared about you and what you were doing and that he would always be there when you needed him on your side.”

McKinney served on the boards of numerous industry groups and organizations, including the National Association of Flooring Covering Distributors; the American Floorcovering Association, now the WFCA; the Chicago Floorcovering Association, and the Floor Covering Industry Foundation. He was also a member of the Twin Cities, Detroit and Northeast Ohio floor covering associations.

In addition to being among the inaugural group to be inducted into the Industry Hall of Fame, McKinney received the Outstanding Distributor of the Year honor in 1983 from the National Congress of Floor Covering Associations and the Torch of Liberty award in 1984.

Survivors include his wife, Kathleen Mary McKinney; children, Susan, David (Wendy), Dean, Paul (Lori) and Amy (Scott) Rooke; eight grandchildren, and sister-in-law, Carol Zimmerman.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent to the American Diabetes Association or the American Heart Association in memory of McKinney.