Terrell “Tex” Jarvis – Schad Salesman – Project Manager
Although he was born in Tennessee, Terrell Jarvis, was known throughout Schad, exclusively as “Tex”. After serving in the US Army Signal Corps in WWII, Tex crossed paths with Schad founder, Phillip Schad, and was brought on as one of the company’s early employees.
Tex began his career at Schad as a warehouseman before heading out into the field as a laborer. One of his most vivid, and likely not fondest, memories of his early career included unloading railcars of brick by hand. According to Tex, the railcars would roll up and he and others would begin unloading the cars by hand using brick tongs before forklifts were commonly available.
Unloading railcars of brick by hand was all the motivation that he needed to advance his career and by the mid 1950’s, Tex was performing the role of Salesman and Project Manager for the young company. Tex acquired numerous accounts for Schad including Chrysler Glass, Dundee Cement, Lear Siegler, and the Detroit Waste Water Treatment Plant. He developed a strong expertise in the heat treating and incineration industries.
Although he is remembered as a hammer by many of the people that worked for him, Tex was respected and well regarded by his customers. He had very personal relationships with many of the customers he worked for and developed a great deal of trust with many of the people that relied on Tex and Schad to keep their operations running. One customer he formed a particularly strong relationship with was Graham Phelps of Lear Siegler. Graham was an engineer by trade and he relied on Tex to make his ideas a reality, often without drawings to work from. Graham was the idea man and Tex had the knowledge and skill to build Graham’s ideas. The two of them continued a long personal relationship well after each had retired, even spending time together down on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
Outside of Schad, Tex resided in Southfield, Michigan with his wife Madeline, and their two daughters. He is remembered for always whistling a tune and being passionate about golf.
He even became the partial owner of a golf course in the northern suburbs of Detroit. He could also be counted on to be present every year for Schad’s annual outings at Pelee Island, in the Canadian waters of Lake Erie.
Through the relationships he formed within and outside of the Schad organization as well as his service to his country when it needed him the most, Tex left a lasting impression on his company, industry, and family. As a part of its 75th Anniversary, Schad would like to acknowledge Terrell “Tex” Jarvis for his nearly 50 years of contributions.