Andre B. Lacy  

Andre B. Lacy, age 66, began his career with U.S. Corrugated as a child of nine, handing out mail during summer breaks from school. The original company, U.S. Corrugated, was created in 1912 as a family business. Its founder H. J. Lacy, Sr. and Andre's parents, and were business stalwarts in Indiana. After graduating 1961 from Denison University with a bachelor of arts in economics, Lacy took on increasingly more responsibility with the company as an analyst, a sales representative, a plant manager, a regional manager, and eventually earned the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Lacy was named President and Chief Executive Officer since 1983 of Lacy Diversified Industries and its Chairman since 1992.

He attended Shortridge High School (Class of 1957) and has been a community leader involved in critical city projects such as education r eform and economic development.

Selling the box business to Boise Cascade and he reinvented the family firm as Lacy Diversified Industries, a national distributor of niche products, including sporting goods and automobile paint.LDI Ltd., LLC is an industrial and investment limited liability company. Under Lacy's leadership, the privately held company has grown from a corrugated box manufacturer to a diversified holding company whose business units have earned the #1 and #2 positions in their respective industries.

Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of The Year program named Andre Lacy Indiana Master Entrepreneur of the Year in 1994.

He is a corporate board member of The National Bank of Indianapolis and Herff Jones, Inc. in Indianapolis and Patterson Dental Company in St. Paul , Minnesota since 1989. He is a board member of The Nature Conservancy of Indiana. He also serves as an officer/director for the FinishMaster, Inc., CEO of Tucker Rocky Distributing, Inc, National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. Lacy's strong commitment to Indianapolis can be seen in the leadership roles he has played with the following organizations: Indianapolis Public Schools, Indianapolis 500 Festival Association, Indianapolis International Airport Authority Board, United Way, Hudson Institute, Rose H ulman Institute of Technology, Community Leaders Allied for Superior Schools, Economic Club of Indianapolis, Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, Indianapolis Downtown, Inc., St. Vincent Hospital Advisory Board , is vice chair of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Indianapolis Chambers of Commerce. He was a member on the board of Ethyl Corp of Virginia. He is co-chair of the Indianapolis C ultural Trail: A Legacy

Retiring on December 31, 2006, he will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board and Chair of the Executive Committee for LDI, Ltd., and will become Chairman Emeritus of FinishMaster and Tucker Rocky. He will remain active in public roles, including service as vice chairman of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and a director at Rose-H ulman Institute of Technology.

His retirement will end a 94-year span in which a member of the Lacy family has run an enterprise that ranks among the leading entrepreneurial stories in Indiana. David Shane, an Indianapolis lawyer, an executive whom Lacy recruited to LDI in 1997, will become its chief executive officer. Shane has been president and chief operating officer Lacy's son, J.A. Lacy, will continue as president of an LDI subsidiary, FinishMaster.

One of the largest private firms in Indiana, with annual sales exceeding $500 million, LDI owns a major stake in FinishMaster, a publicly traded paint distributor that Lacy moved to Indianapolis from Michigan.

Lacy and his wife, J ulia, have three sons and eight grandchildren
Andre B. Lacy, age 70, has served as Chairman of the Board of LDI Ltd., LLC since 1992. Mr. Lacy served as LDI Ltd., LLC's Chief Executive Officer from 1986 through 2006. LDI Ltd., LLC is an industrial and investment limited liability company. Mr. Lacy is Director Emeritus of FinishMaster, Inc. Mr. Lacy also serves as a director of The National Bank of Indianapolis Corporation and Herff Jones, Inc. Mr. Lacy has been one of the directors of sPatterson Companies, Inc. since 1989

Andre B. Lacy, chairman of Indianapolis-based LDI Ltd., philanthropist, civic leader and life-long resident of Indiana died at the age of 78, while riding his motorcycle across the wild and beautiful landscape of Southern Africa.

Lacy's final hours were spent exactly as he lived, experiencing adventure, and the excitement and lessons it has to offer. From white-water rafting the Green River, to sailing the Caribbean with his sons, to bungee jumping in New Zealand, to riding his motorcycle across China, Russia, Iceland and Africa, Lacy knew that living meant more than being alive.

Family, friends and business and civic associates knew Lacy as quick to offer support. Empowerment and accountability were the hallmarks of Lacy's personal style; he believed "everyone needs a boss" and "execution is everything.

" Lacy's make-it-happen mentality began at an early age, when he worked for his grandfather's company and LDI's founding enterprise, U.S. Corrugated Fibre-Box. He worked his way through the corporate ranks as a sales representative, plant and regional manager, assistant secretary/treasurer and then chief executive officer of LDI.

As the third-generation leader of his family's business that began in 1912, Lacy learned early to take calculated risks and to use experience as a means of getting better. With his determined and optimistic mindset, Lacy guided the company from a small manufacturing operation to one of the largest private companies in Indiana with national and global interests in manufacturing, distribution and logistics.

Lacy retired as CEO in 2006, but retained his position as chairman of the board until his death.

He was a model of commitment - married for 53 years to Julia Lello Lacy, who passed away on New Year's Eve in 2016. Lacy often remarked "I married up when I married Julia," describing her as "my partner, my cheerleader, my advocate and my fan."

Throughout his life, Lacy was a catalyst and mentor to civic and business organizations and their leaders. Butler University and the Indiana State Fair in recent years were beneficiaries of Lacy's leadership, talent and generosity. In 2016, Lacy and his wife made a transformative gift to Butler University's School of Business, supporting its focus on entrepreneurship and family-owned businesses. As part of his efforts, Lacy mentored students until his death; he held office hours and was known for being on campus as reliably as faculty.

In 2012, Lacy and his wife seeded fundraising for the Indiana State Fair Coliseum, a building that Lacy called "the Grand Lady." Their donation, along with Lacy's leadership of the State Fair Commission, spurred contributions that led to the restoration of the iconic Indianapolis building.

Throughout the decades, Lacy served on numerous civic and corporate boards, including as chair of the Indianapolis School Board, United Way of Central Indiana, and the Indiana State Fair Commission. Former Governors Mitch E. Daniels, Robert D. Orr, and Roger D. Branigin each recognized Lacy as a Sagamore of the Wabash.

Lacy was a 1957 Shortridge High School graduate and went on to earn his bachelor's degree from Denison University in Ohio.

Lacy was preceded in death by his beloved wife Julia; he is survived by his three sons John Andre Lacy (Elizabeth), Mark W. Lacy (Julie Fisher), and Peter L. Lacy (Jill); his nine grandchildren, Rhodes, Julia, Ellis, Jose, Meghan, Rachel, Callahan, Emma and Miranda; and his sister-in-law Carolyn Pfrommer (Paul).

Lacy was recently honored with several lifetime awards, including the Whistler Award for his dedication to Indianapolis. In accepting the award, Lacy shared these words, reflective of how he made decisions and lived: "Each of us has the power to be a catalyst… to discover something new… to strike out in new directions… and to push beyond the status quo. Yet no matter what our sphere in life, or our resources, we all have an opportunity to leave things better than we found them. We can all say 'I'm in!' - and move our community from good to great."

A celebration of life will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15 at Butler University in Clowes Memorial Hall. Memorial donations may be made to the Andre and Julia Lacy Scholarship, c/o Butler University; Culver Academies Summer Schools & Camps Program Fund; the Community Leadership Innovation Fund at Central Indiana Community Foundation; and the Boy Scouts Crossroads of America Council. -- Published in the The Indianapolis Star on Dec. 13, 2017