CONTRIBUTED PHOTO James Laugerman, left, and Ben Rector, right, hold up a photo taken of the two at Rector’s desk at Caltrol many years ago. Laugerman is Rector’s oldest grandson, and he recently began working in Marshalltown at Emerson, formerly Fisher Controls. Rector started working for Fisher Controls in Marshalltown in 1956, and the two were able to celebrate the serendipitous situation at the Fisher Alumni Reunion last weekend.

The Fisher Alumni Reunion, hosted by Terry Buzbee, was held last weekend after being canceled twice due to the pandemic, and this event was especially meaningful for former Fisher employee Ben Rector and his grandson, James Laugerman — who is a current Emerson employee — because they got to attend it together.

Rector, a native Texan and chemical engineering graduate from Texas A&M, moved to Marshalltown in August 1956 and worked for what was then the Fisher Governor Company up until 1994, when he retired. Rector was hired by a colleague from A&M, and he was both a personal friend and employee to the original Bill Fisher of Fisher Controls.

He was the youngest vice president at the time as the vice president of sales in 1970, and he also graduated from the Stanford Executive Program and served two years as the Managing Director of England.

In addition to Rector’s career with Fisher (now Emerson), he was also a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army at Texas A&M before participation in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Program was voluntary.

He married Doris Sharer of Marshalltown in 1957 while he was stationed at Fort Benning, Ga. The couple had four children, Tracy, Marcia, John and Bill, and interestingly, they all went on to pursue engineering.

Both Tracy and Marcia earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in industrial engineering at Iowa State University (ISU), and Marcia went on to earn a PhD in industrial engineering technology. Bill earned his electrical engineering degree from ISU. John was unfortunately lost to autoimmune diseases in 1981.

In 1983, Rector and Sharer moved to Los Angeles, where he purchased the Fisher Agency (Control Specialists) from Zan Meyers, and in 1985, Rector formed the company California Controls, known as Caltrol, which he directed until he retired on Jan. 1, 1994. Rector and Sharer retired to Palm Springs, Calif. until Sharer’s death in 2006 from ovarian cancer.

Laugerman, Rector’s grandson, was born to Marcia Rector Laugerman and Dave Laugerman in October 1988. He graduated from high school at Des Moines Christian School, and from college at ISU. Laugerman married Deanna Johnson in 2012 and they have four children, Maely, Joelyn, Nigel and Zoey.

The family recently moved to Marshalltown, where Laugerman accepted a position with Emerson-Fisher, following in his grandfather’s footsteps. He is the manager of digital analytics for Emerson, and he previously worked for the Hy-Vee Technical Center in Grimes.

Rector, now 88 years old, had a lifelong career at Fisher, and made many friends along the way that he remains in contact with. Rector not only had the opportunity to mingle with his friends and acquaintances during the alumni reunion last weekend, but also with his grandson.

About 60 former Fisher employees attended the event, and had the opportunity to tour the newly reopened Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center, as well as the Emerson Factory, and the group were also able to mingle over several dinners.