John Deere has announced the retirement of Howard Storey, Manager, Market Development for John Deere Golf after 35 years of service with John Deere and 45 years in the industry.
Manny Gan, Director, Global Golf and Sports Turf said, “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Howard for his loyalty and dedication to the company and for the contributions he has made over his many years of service. We wish him and his family all the best in the future.”
Howard said, “Friends, it’s time to lift up the cutting units and return the machine to the shed. It has been a 35 year and 9 months rollercoaster ride with some amazing highs and luckily for me very few lows. I have had the pleasure of working with and doing business with some fantastic people from around the world.
“I look back to the early days of joining the company as the Agricultural Demonstrator/Instructor for the UK and Ireland demonstrating some of the biggest toys you could buy, to living and working in Ireland and Germany. I then became part of the golf group from its earliest beginnings to Deere growing to become a major player in that business segment. I have been fortunate to travel the globe more than once or twice and gain life experiences I will always treasure.”
Our top picture shows ‘The Class of 1993’ of the (as it was then named) lawn & groundscare division sales team at Langar, when Howard (front right) was a territory manager. Also in the shot are (back left to right) Richard Johnson, who was then a territory manager and who went on to become John Deere Limited managing director from 2006 to 2014, and is now Director Sales Western Europe; Graham Williams, then the newly appointed division manager (who retired at the end of 2010); territory manager Philip Tong (retired early 2019); territory manager Richard Charleton (still there and now also a turf strategic account manager); and division customer support manager Ivan Miller (retired end 2018) who is front left.