Page 35 - Sample pages "Raymond Henri Dietrich" by Necah S. Furman

The similarity between Dietrich’s Chrysler frontal and the Dietrich-designed Checker grille did not go unnoticed.
(Joe Fay Collection)
with inclusion in its design of a trunk as a standard item.57 By 1948, the Dietrich-Snow team had Checker Cab on the road to recovery from the wartime hiatus.
During the intervening years, Ray and Marion found their social life being increasingly circumscribed by Morris Markin. At the same time, Ray began to tire of corporate restraints and considered seriously being his own boss once again. In retrospective, by 1948, he had spent approximately sixteen years combined working for Walter P. Chrysler and Morris Markin, during which time a large part of his work had changed from automotive design per se to the supervision of people, production projects, and general plant management. Yet the desire to create on his terms remained strong. The demands of his position with Checker exacted a personal
toll. Dietrich also sensed a change in his relationship with Markin, which was of personal concern, although not necessarily of his own making.
Treffly A. Bedard, a former student at the Chrysler Institute who joined the Checker Cab Company as an automotive engineer at Dietrich’s request, was aware of the situation. In a position to observe, he noted that “Dietrich’s close relationship with Mr. Markin became strained.” Dietrich’s friend, Whit West of the Sterling Diamond Tool Company, elaborated:
Markin had many faults both in character and lack of education, but he was an astute businessman and knew how to make money in volume.
He respected the ability of Ray and expected to recoup his investment in brains many times over [which] he did .... I always thought that Marion was a conundrum to Markin. Her brilliant personality and straightforward [manner] threw him off balance. In retrospect, I would say that he was afraid of her.58
Whit’s assessment of Marion is astute. It is not inconceivable that Marion, assertive and always fiercely protective of Ray, clashed with Markin on a personal level. The marriage, and Marion’s move to Kalamazoo, added a different dimension to the social relationship. Markin, more than likely, missed the one-on-one camaraderie with Ray and found Marion’s impressive intellect and vibrant, strong personality a bit “much” for a man of the old school. Marion expressed her dissatisfaction with the status quo quite bluntly. “Markin monopolized us socially,” she said, and from her perspective, that was not acceptable.59 Inevitably, Ray felt the pressure. Yet, as the future would prove, there was a mutual respect and bond of friendship between the two men.
357 WAR AND PEACE WITH CHECKER CAB MANUFACTURING CORPORATION (1939-1940)
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