Mike Sima of Midtown Tile of Omaha recalled, “I was fortu- nate to meet him last year at Coverings. We talked for a little bit there and on here a bit. He was a great man with an even better personality. May he rest in peace.” Forensic Stone and Tile Consultant’s Lindell Lummer said, “I had a large project and ordered 100,000 of his spacers. He said no one ever had a order like that, and he flew out to LA to see what I was up to. Thereafter he always sent me prototypes to evaluate, including his Tavy Puck.” Robert Davis of Davis Solutions in Corvallis, Ore., said Armen gave him the pictured gummy head mallet. “Said it was the next gen prototype. Crazy gummy head. Gonna try it tomorrow.” “I was privileged to work with Armen Tavy on many projects over the years,” NTCA’s Bart Bettiga added. “Armen was an innovator and his passion for the trade knew no bounds. He was the perfect ambassador to help installers tran- sition into the digital era of our trade, sharing his thoughts and ideas on social media, and acting as a mentor to many who were for- tunate enough to get to know him in person.” “It was a pleasure to have known Armen over many years,” said Jeff Gundlach of Beno J. Gundlach Co., master distributor for Tavy Enterprises LLC products. “Armen’s inventive and innovative ability to conceptualize and create tile installation tools and tile installa- tion methods has had and contin- ues to have significant great impact in the tile industry. Armen will be missed here on earth.” Jeff told a great story aboutArmen, who was visiting Beno J. Gundlach and asked to visit a nearby big box store to see the Tavy items on the shelves. Armen had some fun ask- ing the sales agent in the tile aisle some questions about Tavy spacers in stock there. “After a few minutes the tile aisle sales guy realized from Armen’s likeness on the bags of the Tavy Tile Spacers that he was actu- ally speaking with Armen Tavy!” Gundlach said. “The sales guy’s reaction of amazement was hilari- ous!” Armen then repeated his not- quite-incognito performance for the store manager. Hilarity ensued and Armen was happy to take self- ies with both employees. Ron Holten of Terra Firma Tile in Aurora, Ontario, summed it up with this comment: “He was an eccentric character but those kind of people make the world go ‘round and get you thinking. Not only that but he was a real tile setter with a dedication to his craft. I respect that man a lot. R.I.P. Armen.” REMEMBERING ARMEN TAVY ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 114 TileLetter | June 2018