Elmer K. Gerbracht

ELMER KARL CHARLES GERBRACHT III

Elmer grew up in the city of Buffalo on Krettner Street near William. He was the second child of five (Millicent, Elmer, Paul, Rosalind, and Louise) to Elmer, Jr. and Rosalyn (Schneider) Gerbracht. Elmer, Sr. also lived with them, so there were a lot of Elmers under one roof! He attended City of Buffalo schools, skipping third grade (“because I was bored”), and graduated from East High School. He told many stories about adventures with his brother, Paul, and good times spent with his family. Following graduation, Elmer spent a year working at Arner pharmaceutical company (where his father worked) to save some money for college. It was here that he gained his passion for chemistry.

He attended Erie Community College (ECC) for two years before transferring to the University at Buffalo (UB) to get his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Chemistry. While at ECC he met his future wife, Maria Rettig, who was also an Industrial Chemistry student and his lab partner. His first full-time job was at Lucidol as a lab technician working with phenolic resins used to make circuit boards. After three years he became a chemistry lab supervisor at Spaulding Fiber. He then went on to work for Hewlett-Packard (HP) as a regional technology salesman selling advanced chemistry equipment such as gas chromatography and mass spectrometry machines. He was an excellent salesman using his direct knowledge of the chemistry equipment and interpersonal skills to leverage past connections and easily engage with new clients. Over the next several years, HP advanced him up the salesman ranks until he was responsible for most of upstate New York. He recalls selling HP's very first calculators. Additionally, he knew the location of every ice cream stand in his territory.

With his 4th child on the way, Elmer decided to switch jobs so he could stay closer to home. He began working for the Forensic Science Lab at the Buffalo Police Department. This was where he met his future business partner, Angelo M. Fatta. With the permission of their supervisor, the pair began conducting independent laboratory analysis with their down time; thus starting ACTS Testing Labs, Inc. The timing was perfect due to the introduction of stronger environmental protection laws in New York State. Their independent testing laboratory humbly began in their garages doing environmental water and soil testing along with arson testing (a carryover from their work at the Buffalo Police). The company didn't truly take off until they landed their first major client, Fisher Price (located in East Aurora), which involved safety testing for toxic metals in the paints used on their toys. ACTS later expanded into home products, health & beauty products, textiles, and quality control, gaining multiple national clients such as Proctor & Gamble and McDonald’s (testing Happy Meal toys). As the company grew, they expanded their operations to Chicago, New York City, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, and France to move the testing closer to manufacturing sites. Elmer eventually sold his portion of the company to his partner, but found he was not quite ready to fully retire. He drove cars to the auction for a friend for a short while and even went on to start another company for a brief period, Ultra Blend (which blended compounds primarily for food suppliers). He finally ended his chemistry career working part-time for a few years in the pharmacy labs at UB analyzing student work for his sister, Louise.

Family was always important to Elmer. He was close with his siblings and their families his entire life - having annual picnics, Christmas get-togethers, and even weekly lunches. He and Maria (married in Buffalo on June 10, 1961) raised four children (Kathleen, Lorraine, Brian, and Donald) in their Clarence, NY, home. The house was full of love, laughter, and always bustling with activity (splashing in the pool, playing volleyball in the backyard, hockey in the basement, and endless imaginative play). There was also lots of humming and whistling (Tiny Bubbles...) by Elmer! The couple encouraged their children's involvement in sports, recreation, and community clubs. Elmer would often get involved himself - coaching, refereeing, spectating (and heckling), or even just being the van driver. He wore many hats in the family - figuratively and literally - he had quite the collection of baseball caps!

Elmer (Opa) and Maria (Oma) were also the proud grandparents of 10 grandchildren (Matthew, Gregory, Madeline, Rachel, Timothy, Isabelle, Pamela, Sophia, Troy, and Hannah) and 2 great-grandchildren (Landon and Emily). He routinely made time for his beloved grandchildren - learning about their interests and friends, showing up to sporting events, concerts and recitals, chauffeuring, encouraging their educational achievements, telling stories, playing pranks, giving "familiar configuration" gifts with unique tags, treating them to sweets, and giving advice about home projects and cars.

Speaking of cars - he loved everything about cars. He got his license as soon as possible and bought his first car at 17. He loved maintaining cars, researching, finding, and especially buying cars and traveling to car shows. Over the years he owned many antique cars including a 1964 Buick Electra 225 and a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado. The one consistent factor was that they had to be a convertible! His favorite cars were Buicks, but he could identify all makes and models. The two cars he had the longest were a 1981 and a 1982 Buick Riviera (both were red with a red leather interior and a white convertible top). Elmer was active in his local Buick Club where he was director for two terms and secretary for several years. He took pride constructing their monthly newsletters. In 2001, he was instrumental in running the Buick National Show in Buffalo which, due to his diligence, was a smashing success and raised the bar for all the following nationals. Elmer's cars won awards several times and he would often judge national competitions. He and his friends would travel across the country to Buick Nationals and other events. His favorite was their annual camp outing at the Carlisle Auto Show in Pennsylvania where they would show their cars and partake in old man hijinks and excesses.

Elmer also made time to be involved in his community. He was the president of the Conservative Party in Clarence for several years and ran for the town board. He enjoyed meeting and connecting with new people from all walks of life. With his charismatic personality, he was able to get along and laugh with just about anyone. To his neighbors he was affectionately known as the "Mayor of the neighborhood" as he knew everyone by name. He never hesitated to extend a helping hand to others in need.

Elmer was a true Buffalo sports fan - cheering for the Bills since they played at "Rock Pile" and almost never missing a Sabres game. He often played games with his family, both in a competitive and humorous manner. He always had a project he was working on and loved tinkering with the many tools in his garage. He enjoyed the adventure of experiencing different places and people, and conversely just relaxing on the deck and sharing good times with the people in his life. A book of his situational one-liners was collected by his family called Opa-isms, that he would throw out and get the whole room laughing. He challenged himself to continue to learn ever-evolving technology throughout his life and loved finding new gadgets he considered a "good deal".

Elmer was analytical and pragmatic. He had an amazing memory, loved solving puzzles, and regularly engaged in substantiative planning (even if no one asked him to). He was generous, hardworking, personable, compassionate, devoted, charming, and above all else, loving. He touched so many lives in so many positive ways and will be greatly missed. You’re on your way to your next big adventure, Elmer!

The family invites you to add your own anecdotes to Elmer's story, share with us some details that maybe we didn't get quite right, or pass along any other thoughts, photos or videos that you would like to convey via the Guest Book section below. Thank you.