John Peters

John Peters (2009)

John Peters  ALCO
Acme
Atlanta, GA
Email (Click Here)

Prior to joining ACME in 1979, as Sales Manager, John was with the Xerox Corporation for a number of years. When ACME became part of AOP in 1983, John quickly assumed more and more responsibilities as the Director of Sales, VP of Sales, Sr VP and ultimately John became the Atlanta Region General Manager.  He retired from AOP in 1997 and shortly thereafter, founded Aqua Koolers (a water purification and cooler company) in Atlanta.  Aqua Koolers became the largest water cooler company in the south and in 2006 the company was merged with Bob Kearns, Ed Kane, Don Dudine, Jim Kincer, Rich Bova and Jon King (all in the water business) to form the largest drinking water-cooler company in America called Quench USA. 

Ann and John 2012

John and Ann 1973

With one son, Andy and two beautiful grandchildren, John and Ann live in Atlanta and in Vero Beach, Florida.  They spend as much time as possible with family, friends and grandchildren! Every New Years, John and Ann spend the holiday at Hilton Head with family.  This has been a family tradition for many years, long before AOP had our annual POP club meetings there! John and Ann were married in 1973 and enjoy traveling, music, wind chimes, baseball cards, all sports and teaching sales people how to win success!  

John Peters (2013)

A note that you may not know, John has one of the largest and most valuable baseball-card collections in the country! John has collected every Major Player's Rookie card from 1949 through 1993, except that of Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays! 

John and Andy Peters 2023

Click for Phone Number             Click for Email Address

Larry Kludt

Larry 2012

Larry Kludt
ALCO (HR)

Larry, Brian King, Rolf Jenson

Email (Click Here)

Larry was with AOP from 1988 until 1997.  He represented the Human Resources Department and was very involved in all phases of the business.  He are Karen attended many of the annual award trips and got to know all of the players and their spouses.  

He was very effective in his job and everyone enjoyed working and playing with him.  After AOP Larry formed his own company, "Kludt Management" in 2007 and continues operating it today.  

Joyce Kincer, Hal & Sue Fitzke, Larry & Karen

Jim Carlisle, Linda Carlisle,
Larry & Karen Kludt,
Rolf Jenson

"Kludt Managment" provides strategic Human Resource support to executive teams that have an interest in maximizing the employee resources in their company, creating a marketplace differential which competitors cannnot readily duplicate. Specifically, Kludt Management provides HR support, strategic HR project implementation, and process consulting.

The company objective is to increase managerial awareness and competency regarding the successful management and motivation of employees.  

Karen and Larry Kludt 1991

Larry has been a member of the PHRPS since 1991.

Karen passed away in 2019 of lung cancer, Karen's Obituary: https://www.mccommonsfuneralhome.com/obituary/Karen-Kludt.

Larry currently lives in the Atlanta area  (Reynolds Plantation in Georgia)!

Bob Kearns

Bob 2009

Bob 2004

Bob Kearns
ALCO 
Email (Click Here)

Bob joined CopyRite in 1983 and it was sold to AOP in 1988.  Around 1990 or so, the SOG concept (Strategic Operating Group) was created and Jim Head was the SOG leader for the Midwest. Bob naturally became more involved with the finances of the companies in the Midwest group.  The Midwest  SOG consisted of: CopyRite, St Johns Business Machines, Copy Corp, Hovinga Business Systems, O’Brien Business Products, American Business Machines, DC Hey Company and CopyData

Bob explained:  "In the fall of 1993 John Stuart was named CEO of Alco Standard, Kurt Dinkelaker was promoted to CFO,  Jim Head and I were promoted to the Group level in Valley Forge.  AOP continued an aggressive acquisition pace and acquired 105 companies in 1994,  95 companies in 1995 and 100 companies in 1996.  Most were contiguous and absorbed by a larger AOP company, but not all certainly.  Here are some stats from that period:

• Cash Flow went from 41% of Income in 1993 to average of 109% in 1994 through 1996
• Revenue grew from $1.7B in 1993 to $4.1B in 1996 
• Share price grew from $22.00 in 1993 to $49.88 in 1996
• Share price outperformed the S & P 500 by 35.9% from 1993 to 1996
• Alco Capital Resource portfolio grew by  more than 40% to $1.5B (1993 to 1996), while its Return on Capital improved at the same time

Those were great times with lots of great people contributing to make it all happen”.

Bob Kearns 2004

Bob - May 2016

Bob left AOP in the summer of 1997 and co-founded Quench with Ed Kane in October, 1997.  In March, 2006, Bob and Ed consolidated Quench with Jim Kincer, Don Dudine, Rich Bova, Jon King, and John Peters to create Quench USA.  $72 million of private equity capital has been raised in Quench USA.  That’s a big number.  The company is the largest in the industry.

Bob and Pam 2011

Bob and Pam still live in Glenmoore, PA.  Their only daughter was married  in 2009.  Bob enjoys family, fishing and still loves Indy cars as you will remember he is a BIG race fan!

Mike Thomas

Management Services Contest!
Zoo Employee &  Mike a
San Diego Zoo 1996

Mike 2012

Mike Thomas AOP
Infincom/Managment Services
Phoenix, Arizona
Email: (Click Here)

After a very successful sales and management career with Xerox Corporation, Mike joined Infincom in Phoenix and became one of the creators of Document Management Services, providing copy management services for the legal industry.  When Infincom became part of the AOP Team, Mike became Executive Vice President of the Management Services division for AOP and IKON.

Mike poses with Dudley Do Right
and a couple of customers in 1991
Rumor has it that Dudley was
Mike Koether

Chris Corp, Mike, Jim Teel
1994

Mike retired from AOP in 1997 and founded Aqua Perfect of  Arizona, he grew the company to become one of the largest water cooler companies in the southwest serving, Arizona, Nevada and
Southern California before selling the company in 2012 to Quench USA. 

Mike 2017
Today, Mike and his wife, Renee reside in the Phoenix, Arizona area and he serves as the Quench Vice President of Sales for the Western Region.  

When Mike isn't traveling, he is very active in his Church and plays golf every chance he gets. 

                                                      "Life is Good"!

Paul Archer

Paul Archer  ALCO
Associate Business Products
Salt Lake City, Utah
(Paul's Email)

Paul Archer  was associated with his brother, Lee Archer at Associated Business Products from its inception in 1992  for 7 years  until 1999 at which time Paul retired from IKON and  founded World Wide Manager Hard Copy Digital Convergence until 2005 at which time he was a Member of BTA - Business Technology Association  until he founded Automated Business Products in July of 2005 and continues to operate the company today.  Automated Business Products (ABP) has been locally owned and operated since 2005, at which time, Paul purchased the 23 year old Panasonic Digital Document Company branch in Denver. Paul and Carol currently live in Littleton, Colorado.

Bryan King

Bryan King 1993

Bryan King AOP
Delta Business Systems
Email: (Click Here)

Bryan founded Delta in 1976 with $1,500 cash, a big dream and much energy! Delta was first located in a very small office to do copier sales and repair.  The company grew to $25 million dollars in revenue in the eleven years prior to AOP.  He and his company, Delta Business Systems, became an AOP partner in 1987.  He continued to operate and grow Delta to become one of the largest copier companies in the country by the time he retired in 1998.  Bryan, a smart and personable gentleman, was a strong leader and mentor to many of us in the group.  He was always trying new and different ways to make the company bigger and better, most worked! 

Bryan King 1990

Suzanne agreed to marry Bryan in 1998 and they moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. They have lived variously in California, Colorado, Orlando, Tampa Florida and now Nevada.   They have no children but do have a "fish". lol  Today, Bryan is involved in real estate investments in several states.  He and Suzanne currently (as of the summer of 2018) live in St.Petersburg, FL - they travel the world for six months of the year and have visited Canon's Mr. Murase, in Japan several times.
_____________________________________________
10/23/13 Email from Bryan:

Bryan, Suzanne, Murase, Machiko

Bryan King and Mr. Murase

Hi Jim
Currently touring Asia, Suzanne and I again had the opportunity to spend an evening in Tokyo with Murase and his lovely wife, Machiko. Murase-san sends his best wishes to all the AOP presidents--of course, reserving his very best wishes for those who sold Canon products. We drank a lot of sake, reminisced about the "good old days", and I introduced him to the AOP website, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
___________________________________
6/9/18 Email from Bryan

Hi Jim

Nice to hear from you.

I expect you will not find it unusual, given our peripatetic past, that we have moved again and now live in a high-rise across from the downtown St Petersburg FL marina. We have joined the local yacht club and reconnected with friends made when we last lived in the Tampa Bay area some 12 years ago.

Suzanne is doing great and volunteers at the local Boys and Girls Club where she teaches STEM to underprivileged kids. And I, despite finding the truth in the adage that “Getting Old Sucks”, am doing fine as well.

We are still traveling a lot—Suzanne has spent at least one night in 81 countries and, for me the number is around 115. This summer’s travel includes a couple of weeks at a CO dude ranch where I am still attempting to ride live horses until I am relegated only to those on the merry-go-round. In the fall, we return to Asia for a month with an emphasis on Viet Nam. 

I am taking Vietnamese lessons in preparation for the trip, although when I talk to locals in their language they either laugh hysterically or stare intently at Suzanne’s lips, assuming that she is a ventriloquist and I am her dummy.

Great to hear that you and Joyce are doing well. AOP presidents seem to be a particularly long-lived bunch. Perhaps this is due to our long exposure to copier toner?

Should you find yourself in our area, please give us a shout.

Bryan and Suzanne

9/5/16 E-mail from Bryan:

Hi Jim

We sold our house and left Las Vegas in 2014—moving there will not rank as one of my better life decisions.  We then moved to Scottsdale. Nice town, but it was too damn hot. They say it is a “dry heat,” but so is a bloody oven.  

Left there, and ever on the lookout for tax-free states, moved to Austin, Texas. Great town—one bar for every 68 people, lived right downtown on 40^th floor of a 55 story high-rise within walking distance of over 50 restaurants, and on any given night there are about 75 bands playing in the town. 

Had a lunch with Harry Farnham and Cynthia while we were there.  Only problem with Austin was that I was always the OLDEST guy in the restaurant. Suzanne and I moved to Sarasota last month--here they call me “junior.”

Just returned from a trip to Mongolia and Japan. Trip to Mongolia will probably be a one-time event as I suck at Dead Goat Polo.  

But, now Suzanne is approaching the century mark of countries visited and I have been to about 25 more—we are avoiding any countries that end in “...stan” or that have only four letters if the first letter is an “I”. 

Spent some time last month with Murase-san and his wife in his hometown of Yokohama. He is still working hard and will not commit to a retirement date.

We are glad to be back on the water and Suzanne is happy to be near her family.

Glad to see you are continuing AOP Today.

Bryan

Worth Probst

Worth Probst  (AOP Today)

(Birthday 1/23/39)

Corona del Mar, California

(Email)

Worth began his career in sales and sales management at Xerox Corporation. In 1975, he founded University Copy Systems, which grew to be one of the largest independent Canon dealers in the United States. As president of one of the premier color copier resellers in the US, Probst recognized the need for color RIP solutions to service his customers. Dissatisfied with the alternatives, Probst founded Colorbus in 1990. Colorbus grew to become one of the world’s largest and most successful manufacturers of color printing solutions.

Worth still lives in beautiful Corona del Mar!  Before Corona del Mar, he lived in Palm Desert and Kirkland, Washington and in Newport Beach, CA. He recently told me, "I have 4 grandkids but they live in Washington and Alaska so I don't see them that often".  "I don't "work" anymore but, do invest which is increasingly difficult".  "I am part of the older single generation having a great time and luckily still healthy".  "Major challenge is my deteriorating golf game but, I was never very good anyway".  Email Worth at the above  email address.

Tom Kemp

Tom Kemp 2011

Tom Kemp 1991

Tom Kemp AOP   

Copy Van/Copy Systems

Richmond, VA

Email (Click Here)

“I joined American Business Machines in Canton, Ohio, working for Jack Blakney in 1980.  Matt came on board in 1983, working for me until I moved-on to work for the Hillman Group, as President of Copy Van in Virginia in 1989.  In 1991-92,  I came full circle back to AOP when the Hillman Group was acquired by ALCO.  I then moved on to replace Gil Exler at X-tec in 1996”.   

Nancy and Tom 1993

About that time AOP formed “IKON Philadelphia” by merging Select Office Systems in Philadelphia (founded in1979 by Michael Kadosh), Opetec of Fort Washington, PA (founded in 1969 by Harry Christie), Xtec of Valley Forge (founded in 1983 by  Gil Exler) and Key Business Systems of Center Square, PA (founded in 1975).  “After the challenge of merging all four companies successfully, I left AOP in 1997 and moved back to Richmond, VA,  joined  Virginia Business Systems, in an Executive Leadership capacity, with responsibility for all aspects of the business including sales and budget responsibility”.  

In 2003, after a short stop as Director of the Management Institute at the University of Richmond, Tom joined Lee Hecht Harrison.

Today, Tom is the Southeast Region Managing Director for Lee Hecht Harrison, (Adecco Group), the world leader in workforce solutions with more than 6,000 offices in 70 countries around the world!  Lee Hecht Harrison is the global talent development leader in connecting people to jobs and helping individuals improve performance. LHH assists organizations in supporting restructuring efforts, developing leaders at all levels, engaging and retaining critical talent, and maintaining productivity through change. 

Pictured below is a group photograph taken in 1993 at Mauna Lani Bay located on the Kohala Coast of Hawaii's Big Island 

                                                  The Bonds, The Exlers,  Ed Kane, The Shoemakers, The Kemps, The Reillys,  The  Rogans                                                                                                    

Stella and Sydney

Amy and Tom 2011

In 2005, after 25 years, Nancy and Tom were divorced, but remain close friends, they have three adult children.

In 2010 Tom married Amy, "on the 18th green at Hilton Head", and they reside in the Richmond, VA area.  Tom said: "Hoping that I can have another happy 25 years!  Amy and I play quite a bit of golf (when time permits), we are involved in working with Golden Retrievers... and yes, we are both avid readers as well".

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE OF TOMS PHOTOS

John Stuart

John Stuart
ALCO
Email (Click Here)
Phone (Click Here)

John E. Stuart joined AOP in 1985 as Corporate Vice President and President and CEO of Alco Office Products. Before AOP John held sales, marketing and senior-management positions with IBM, Ricoh and Royal Business Machines.  He had great vision and a very unique, successful management style. John, Joanie, their two teen age daughters and five horses still live in Pennsylvania and when John is not playing golf, he is in the private equity business.  He founded "CoverageOne, LLC" and sold it. John said he is still in contact with several of our former AOP partners and hopes this website/blog will bring us all together and put us in touch with one-another again.  

Friend, Mark Smedle, John, Friend, Ed Woehling

John Stuart, Peter Shoemaker, Marilyn & Peter Dierickx, Joanie Stuart, Bill Cracklen 1990

CLICK READ MORE FOR MORE INFO AND PICTURES RE JOHN STUART

Don Dudine

Don 2005

Don and Linda 1982

Don Dudine  ALCO

CopyRite
Email (Click Here)

In his early life just out of college, Don  was a high school band leader and music teacher in Jasper, Indiana. Prior to Don founding CopyRite in Indianapolis in 1979 (with Jim Head), he was a sales representative for Xerox Corporation. Under Don and Jim's leadership, CopyRite grew to be the largest independent copymachine company in Indiana. CopyRite was purchased by AOP in 1988 and Don became an AOP partner in 1988, he continued to operate CopyRite until his retirement from AOP in 1994.

     

Don Dudine 2007

Don 2012 Fishing Trip

In 1995 Don founded AquaPerfect, Indianapolis and grew the company to be the largest in Indiana and Ohio. A merger with six other water cooler  dealers created Quench USA, providing pure cold drinking water to offices and companies nationwide.  The company sold in 2006 and shortly thereafter, Don retired.

Don and Linda 2011

2012

Today, Don  lives on a beautiful farm in Southern Indiana, overlooking the Ohio River.  He has two barns, a pick-up truck, a dog, cat and several horses! Don still has his ongoing sense of humor!

       Don and Linda at their home March 2014

**Linda Dudine, passed away on (10/19/19) of brain cancer.  She died at their home in Southern Indiana after a 4 year battle with the cancer. Click Here to read her obituary.