Sellick Equipment Founder Walter Sellick Dies at 98

Walter Sellick, founder of Sellick Equipment in Harrow, Ontario, Canada, has died at the age of 98. Sellick founded Sellick Equipment Limited, a manufacturer of rough terrain forklifts in 1969 at the age of 50.

Michael Roth

Jan. 11, 2017

Walter Sellick and his first roughterrain forklift — Walter Sellick and his first rough-terrain forklift.

Sellick was raised on a farm in Harrow, Ontario, served in the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1941-1945 and was an avid pilot and member of several flying organizations, as well as former mayor of Harrow. He managed a Ford tractor dealership for many years until he founded Sellick Equipment with his sons Howard and David.

Sellick was on the board of directors of the Equipment Manufacturers Institute, now the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, and helped pioneer the EMI rough terrain forklift council.

In addition to his sons, Sellick is survived by his daughter Heather and many grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.

About the Author

Michael Roth

Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.