Barry Gump, former president of Andy Gump Temporary Site Services, died April 17 at age 74 at his home in Valencia, California. Company General Manager Tony Watson told KHTS radio that he celebrated Easter surrounded by family and that he had recently recovered from a minor surgery, but that his death was unexpected.

Founded by Barry’s father, Andy Gump, in 1956, the company is now one of the largest portable restroom companies in the state, with annual revenues of about $23 million. The Gump family also is involved with the ownership of the portable restroom manufacturing company NuConcepts.

Karleen Kos, executive director of Portable Sanitation Association International (PSAI), says Barry was instrumental in creating the PSAI’s Andy Gump Award back in 1993. The Andy Gump Award is the PSAI’s most prestigious honor and is awarded yearly to an individual who meets the award selection criteria, which include fairness and integrity in personal and business relationships, working to improve the image of the industry, and exhibiting vision in the face of economic challenges.

Kos says many people associated with PSAI and the industry in general knew Barry Gump, and all those people believe he exemplified the morals, honesty and desire to help others that the award was meant to recognize.

“It is really quite ironic,” she says. “At our annual convention and trade show last month, a few people were standing around talking, and they observed that one of the people most deserving of the recognition that comes with the Andy Gump Award was Barry Gump himself. Because he, or a member of the Gump family, has always been on the award committee, honoring Barry with the award named for his father has not occurred.”

In November 2015, Andy Gump Temporary Site Services hosted a site visit for nearly 200 attendees of the PSAI’s annual Nuts and Bolts Educational Conference, and Kos got to meet Barry.

“During that visit, the excellence to which the Gump family has always been committed was in evidence, and their hospitality was unbounded,” she says.

Kos went on to share some of the comments she’s received from those within the association and portable sanitation industry since the news of Barry’s death arrived Monday:

• “We lost a true giant in our industry. Barry was a great businessman, industry spokesman and gentleman. His inspiration will live on.”
• “I really feel like I’ve lost a father figure. He was a true mentor to me. We butted heads sometimes, but he was a great man.”
• “The world lost the most incredible man today, Barry Gump. He showed my husband what it means to be a hardworking man, dedicated husband and loving father. He will forever be in our hearts, and will always be on our minds. 
• “Today we lost someone who I will always refer to as the best man I have ever known.”

Barry served on the PSAI board of directors for many years, according to Kos. He also was president of the board in 1988-’89 and served on numerous committees throughout the years.

“He and the Gump family have always been very generous in their support of the industry and the PSAI,” says Kos.

Barry Gump is survived by his wife, Pati; daughter, Nancy; and three grandchildren, Andy, Josh and Cole. His second daughter, Cherilyn, died at age 3. He also served in the U.S. Air Force.

Sources: KHST radio and The Signal