The Commercial Appeal Memphis TN April 22, 2003 MEMPHIS AREA DEATHS Through Monday, April 21 Nylon hosiery king John Lake Dies of Heart Failure By Yolanda Jones yojones@gomemphis.com April 22, 2003 Women the world over should give John C. Lake a hand, but maybe a leg would be more appropriate. Mr. Lake found nylon to be the key in transforming ladies stockings. The Grenada, Miss., resident died of heart failure Sunday at Grenada Lake Medical Center. He was 99. A native of Wake Forest, N.C., Mr. Lake went to work at DuPont Co. in 1930 with a textile degree under his belt from Clemson University. His job was to figure out how to use a little known yarn called nylon. "They gave me an unmarked bundle weighing 50 or 60 pounds and told me to take it to a plant in Tonawanda, N.Y., and see what we could come up with," Mr. Lake said in a 1997 interview with The Commercial Appeal. The company tried unsuccessfully to make underwear with nylon, created by DuPont chemist Wallace Carothers in 1937. Then they tried it on gloves, but that didn't work, either. Someone suggested to Mr. Lake that the nylon be taken to a hosiery mill and nylon stockings were born. In 1940, the stockings hit the market and women everywhere lined up to buy the stockings, which were more durable than those made of silk or cotton. Mr. Lake recalled they had just started making the nylon hosiery when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, cutting silk supplies. Nylon then was used to make parachutes and ropes. When the war ended, Mr. Lake headed South, moving to Grenada, where he worked at Grenada Industries, home to Around-the-Clock hosiery and 121 other private lines of nylon stockings. After starting with just 100 employees, Mr. Lake grew the company as president and general manager and was able to open a second plant in Batesville, Miss. When he retired in 1970, his company employed more than 2,300 people at the two plants and a distribution center in Memphis. Mr. Lake organized other manufacturers in the state so they would have voice in government. As a result, the Mississippi Manufacturers Association was formed. The group, which Mr. Lake served as founding president, started out with 13 industries and has grown to about 1,600. "He was innovative," said Mr. Lake's daughter with whom he lived, Julia Lake Cutler. After Mr. Lake retired, he went into the cotton business to help his son-in-law keep his business afloat. At 80, after working 10 years, he retired for a second time with the operation debt free. He then spent his days playing golf, but also remained active in civic groups, such as the Grenada Chamber of Commerce and Grenada Rotary Club. In 2000, the Exchange Club of Grenada honored Mr. Lake for a lifetime of civic and religious involvement. Mr. Lake was a former board member of National Mills in New York and the Mississippi Agriculture and Industrial Board. He was a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Grenada where he was a lay reader, superintendent of Sunday school, vestryman and senior warden. Mr. Lake was the widower of Julia Loucks Lake and Nell Allen Lake. In addition to his daughter Julia, he is survived by two other daughters, Elizabeth Lake Lewis of Hattiesburg, Miss., and Josephine Lake Pugh of Tupelo, Miss.; a stepdaughter, Betty Allen Brashier of Indianola, Miss; eight grandchildren; six great grandchildren; seven step-grandchildren and 13 step-great grandchildren. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at All Saints Episcopal Church in Grenada. Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery. Garner-Harper Funeral Home has charge. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to All Saints Episcopal Church in Grenada. The Enterprise-Tocsin, Thursday, April 24, 2003, Sec A. Page 5 Indianola Sunflower Co MS John C. Lake John C. Lake, 99, of Grenada, formerly of Indianola, died Sunday, April 20, 2003 at Grenada Lake Medical Center. He was the former president of Grenada Industries and founding president of the Mississippi Manufacturers Association. A native of North Carolina, Lake received a BA degree from Wake Forest and a BS degree in textile engineering degree from Clemson. He joined E.I. Dupont in 1930 and later worked on the company's development of using the newly invented nylon for women's stockings. In 1945 he moved to Grenada as president of Grenada Industries which manufactured ladies hosiery. At the time of his retirement in 1970, the company had an employment of 2,300 at its Grenada and Batesville plants and Memphis distribution center. He was a member of all Saints Episcopal Church in Grenada in Grenada having served as layreader, superintendent of Sunday School, vestryman and senior warden. Services were April 23 at All Saints Episcopal Church in Grenada. Garner-Harper Funeral Home handled the arrangements. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Julia Loucks Lake, his second wife, Nell Allen Lake, two brothers, two sisters and a step-son. Survivors include three daughters, Julia (Judie) Lake Cutler of Grenada, Elizabeth (Libby) Lake Lewis of Hattiesburg, Josephine (Jo) Lake Pugh of Tupelo; step-daughter, Betty Allen Brashier of Indianola; eight grandchildren, six great grandchildren, seven step-grandchildren and 13 step-great-grandchildren. Family requests in lieu of flowers that donations be made to all Saints Episcopal Church, Post Office Box 345, Grenada, MS 38902-0345.