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Canwest News Service
Larry Azzopardi, founder of Laval Tool and Mould in Maidstone, Ont., died on Sunday in an Atlanta hospital.
The 75 year old was catching a plane to Mexico to watch a relative compete in an iron-man competition when he suffered a blood clot.
After growing up during the Second World War, Azzopardi left Gozo, Malta, at age 16 in search of a better life.
He landed in New York, but ended up taking a train to Halifax and following it to the end of the line in Windsor, Ont.
He worked his way up the ladder in the tool and mould business, starting as an apprentice at International Tool Limited in Windsor.
Even after founding Laval Tool in 1977, Azzopardi spent much of his time on the shop floor working on moulds with his team. He loved to work.
Even to the end he worked. The Friday before his death he was hard at work getting a tough job done well before a tight deadline.
"He knew his true environment was out on the shop floor," said Jonathon Azzopardi, Larry's youngest son. It's that environment in which he became an innovator in compression moulding, helping to usher the technology out of its infancy.
