With permission from Kevin’s family—wife, Lynn and sons Zachary and Noah—we are publishing Kevin Lamb’s eulogy, written and shared by Aaron Shulte, Kevin’s dear friend and co-worker, during Kevin’s memorial services in January 2024. Forever a part of Hancock Lumber’s story, we will miss Kevin’s presence and impact every day. With love from his Team Hancock family!
Kevin Lamb | December 14, 1963 – January 20, 2024
My name is Aaron Schulte, and I am here today, like all of you, to mourn the loss of Kevin Lamb, but also to cherish the time we had with him. Kevin was an amazing individual and made what will be an everlasting impression on me as one of the best sawmillers to ever exist in our industry and as a close friend. I met Kevin 10-1/2 years ago when I joined Hancock Lumber. I will never forget the first time I met Kevin; it was an impression many of us had the first time meeting him, and I thought to myself afterwords, “That guy is one grumpy SOB!” Not knowing how he was with family and friends outside of work but those here today who were close co-workers of Kevin know what I am talking about! What I quickly learned about Kevin is he had a very tough exterior and me being a 28-year-old punk from the Pacific northwest, he was testing me to see what I was made of. That was the beginning of what would turn into a strong bond and would lead to several monumental experiences in my career.
Richard Sprague, another dear friend to Kevin, called me Sunday to inform me of this tragic loss. The news hit me like a ton of bricks and my heart sank. Although a huge loss to me and so many within our organization, I could not help but think of Lynn and their two sons Zachary and Noah. I know the boys well, but I had never met or spoken to Lynn. Although I was in Arkansas at the time, I felt a need to speak with Lynn—not only to share my condolences, but to say how grateful I was to her and the family for sharing Kevin with us. I did not know how this conversation would go—but instantly I felt like we had known each other for decades.
This conversation was heartwarming as we got to share stories of Kevin which are dear to our hearts. We got to laugh, and we got to mourn. It was at that moment, I got to know Kevin outside of the walls of work and realized he was just as amazing at home as he was at the mill. Lynn, thank you for this and I am truly blessed to have known and worked alongside your husband.
I would like to spend a little time sharing with you the legacy Kevin left behind for all of us that worked with him. Kevin did some work as an outside contractor before joining the Pittsfield team in 2001—he was quickly recruited after seeing the skillset and aptitude he had to understand a complex process and improve on it. With Kevin’s persistence and determination to find a better way to do things, he quickly led the Pittsfield team to be the highest performing mill in the company at the time. It did not take long to identify the value Kevin brought to the operation and soon after joining he was promoted into a divisional role where he would lead the way in our industry on PLC automation, equipment upgrades, real-time data collection, and launching our own in-house user interface through Ignition. These tools Kevin built from scratch would turn out to be instrumental in Hancock Lumber going from just another small Eastern White Pine mill to now, a world-class Eastern White Pine producer, known both nationally and around the globe.
I had several roles in the company and worked closely with Kevin in each one of them, where we made amazing progress in anything we tackled—however, I was forced to share Kevin with the other mills. I knew how you felt Lynn! When I became the General Manager of the Bethel Mill, I was challenged by my supervisor at the time, Kevin Hynes, to elevate the operation to a new level. He asked me what he could do to support this initiative and I responded, “I need more time from Kevin Lamb”—and, that is what I got! Although Kevin was still actively involved in the other mills, his primary focus at the time was on process improvement in the Bethel Mill. Alongside many team members and friends, we were able to identify opportunities and streamline our operation to grow our productivity by 25% in just a few years without any significant capital expense.
This was done by improving automation at our headrig for maximum performance, building operator specific data collection (creating some friendly competition), utilizing vision camera systems to smooth out flow, identifying necessary equipment upgrades, reporting to build accountability, and so much more. We spent countless days working after hours and through weekends to ensure that our crews would come to work seamlessly after an upgrade or improvement.
Fast forward to 2021 when I was fortunate enough to become the Chief Operating Officer for our Sawmill Division. Our Pittsfield location had hit a wall and deteriorated from being our most profitable mill to the least. I brought Richard Sprague from the Bethel mill to be the new site GM and tasked him with a similar initiative I had in Bethel to build the operation back up to a top performing mill. I asked Richard what I could do to support this initiative—and, like my response as the GM in Bethel—he said, “I need Kevin Lamb to manage the Pittsfield Maintenance Department.” The special ingredient Kevin held that was so important for this role was integrity, grit, and full transparency—always calling it how it was. This was not an easy task and Lynn shared with me during our conversation the discussion she and Kevin had about this task. Kevin told Lynn what would be involved and the commitment they would endure. Those that know Kevin well know he never stops short of following through with an objective. This task was important to Kevin as the Pittsfield Mill holds true to his heart from his time there prior, and he knew what was needed to recover from the path it was going down.
The family supported Kevin like they always did. After about 12 months of blood, sweat, and tears, Kevin and the team rebuilt the maintenance structure, replaced tired iron, completed many significant upgrades, instilled accountability, and provided a support structure for the operation that was so desperately needed. As I stand here today, I can say Kevin completed this incredible task to his fullest ability, making it one of the greatest comeback stories I have ever seen in our business. In 2023, our Pittsfield Mill achieved its best BF/HR in the site’s history and is on pace to have its best monthly performance in history. Another amazing piece of this accomplishment was the opportunity for Kevin to do this working directly with his two amazing sons. This was a blessing all in its own and I am thankful to still have both Zach and Noah with us today, regardless of what the future holds for them. Kevin was proud of his sons, and I will support them as they continue to grow in their professional lives. Richard told me yesterday we will never be able to replace Kevin Lamb and our only way to overcome this significant loss will be for all of us at Hancock Lumber to step up and build upon the amazing foundation he has left us. There aren’t any two steps in our three Maine-based mills you can walk without coming across something Kevin touched and improved on.
I will end with these words which I feel best describes Kevin Lamb:
- Loyal
- Passionate
- Committed
- Resilient
- Intelligent
- Innovative
- Integrity
- Proud
- Love
Kevin, thank you. May you rest in peace and God Bless.