Grainnet

Richard Yackel, Founder and Former President of Process Control Systems Inc., Dies at 75

Richard Yackel, founder and former president of Process Control Systems Inc., Chaska, MN, died May 30 at the age of 75.

Yackel founded his company in 1978 after developing speed sensing products that were an improvement over technology that was available up until then, said Process Control Systems Sales Manager Tim Thoma.

"Richard was always working on new ideas and always willing to talk to customers about a specific need," Thoma recalled. "Some of our products were developed as a result of those conversations."

Yackel sold the company to Thoma and Don Peterson and retired in 1999.

Today, Process Control Systems manufactures the Maxigard(TM) brand of industrial products designed to monitor belt conveyors, bucket elevators, screw conveyors, rotary feeders, and other types of material handling and processing equipment to prove rotation or indicate loss of rotation.

Yackel was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and was a lifetime member of Zion Lutheran Church in Hopkins, MN.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Theodore and Lola; first wife, Donna-mae; and sister, Beverly Collins.

He is survived by his wife, Darlene; daughers, Joy (Gary) Sichak and Jill Yackel; stepchildren, Shaun (Kate) Waggoner and Renee (Ken) Kinnaman; grandchildren, Wendy and Matthew Sichak, Jenelle and Kathryn Waggoner, Christopher (Vicki) Kinnaman, and Carli (Mike) Stoutenburg; great-granddaughters, Arianna Benjamin, Allie Kinnaman, and Jayde Stoutenburg; and many other relatives and friends.

A funeral service was held June 3 at Zion Lutheran Church.

Memorials may be made to Zion Lutheran Church, 241 Fifth Ave. N., Hopkins.

For more information, call Process Control Systems at 800-328-0738.