D.V. “Red” McConnohie, the inventor of the re-roofing product Roof Hugger and a leader in the steel building industry, passed quietly in his sleep at the age of 87 on New Year’s evening. He is survived by his two daughters, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
“Red was 87 this last July 11th, but he was still working on the phones in the mornings up until the day before he passed away,” said Lutz, Fla.-based Roof Hugger Inc. President Dale Nelson. “Red and I have been together for 38 years working all over the U.S. and Caribbean. He was like a father to me in many ways and I will truly miss him and his always sage advice.”
Born and raised in Galesburg, Mich., McConnohie later served his country in World War II from England with the 8th Air Force in B-17’s. After WWII he eventually moved to South Florida, working as a salesman of reinforcement steel. This is where he saw his first “all welded” pre-engineered metal building being constructed. These buildings were revolutionary compared to the Quonset huts of the military. He knew this was a technology that would forever change the construction industry and he wanted to be in the middle of it.
McConnohie relocated to Tampa, Fla. and went to work in sales for the then brand new American Buildings Co.; eventually becoming a Varco Pruden design-build general contractor in Tampa in the late 1960’s. He developed several industrial parks and constructed hundreds of buildings in Florida, the Caribbean and various parts of the U.S.
It was after his retirement from contracting that he had an idea for the re-roofing of steel buildings, and in the early 1990’s the “Roof Hugger” was born. He was a pioneer having been part of the development of a dynamic industry specializing in the use of metal in construction.
“The problem Red recognized was two-fold,” Nelson said, explaining how McConnohie came up with the idea for the Roof Hugger product. “First the old metal panels were never intended to support structural members that would hold a new roof down. Secondly, because of the width of the hat channels only one leg of the hat would typically get attached to the existing structure. The other leg would be attached to old deteriorated sheeting. By notching a zee to fit the existing ribs, the attachment now became a correct structure-to-structure connection. The Roof Hugger was born.”
McConnohie and Nelson founded Roof Hugger Inc. in 1990 and began advertising in the pages of Metal Construction News.
“The ‘Roof Hugger’ name was Red’s idea and over the years he had a lot of fun with it, asking everyone if they had ‘hugged their roof today?'” Nelson said. “Although Red is no longer with us, Roof Hugger was well provided for and it will continue to be a lasting tribute to his inventiveness and vision for the future.”