Stanley Yount; Founded Paper Firm

Stanley G. Yount, who founded in 1939 what is now the Fortifiber Corp., using his life savings of $6,000 and every cent he could borrow, and then managed the paper and plastics products company into $51 million in annual sales, has died at the age of 87.

Yount, a longtime San Marino resident, died Saturday of the complications of age, his family said this week.

Recipient of the 1969 American Institute of Management Marquis Award for excellence, Yount took over the A.C. Abbott Products Co. with two partners, renamed it Southland Paper and eventually turned it into one of the largest manufacturers of bags and covers in the country.

A veteran of World War I, he had been a salesman with Crown Zellerbach and continued to work for that paper concern while starting his own small firm.

Over the years the company survived a fire, was rebuilt in its current location on Bandini Boulevard and manufactured materials for the military and asphalt-laminated and reinforced paper. It expanded into other states, adopted the name Fortifiber in keeping with its direction toward reinforced paper products and took over other allied companies.

At Yount’s death, Fortifiber Corp. employed 280 workers in five manufacturing plants.

His survivors include a son, Stuart; a daughter, Lisa Henderson, and two grandchildren. The family asks that contributions in Yount’s name be made to the American Cancer Society.