HuFriedyGroup Mourns Passing of Chairman Emeritus Richard Saslow

HuFriedyGroup has announced the passing of Richard Saslow, chairman emeritus of Hu-Friedy Manufacturing Company. Saslow served as president of Hu-Friedy for over 40 years.

After receiving his business degree from Northwestern, Saslow enlisted in the army, where he served as a counterintelligence officer in Korea. When he returned from the war, he was introduced to Hugo Friedman, the owner of a small dental manufacturing company called Hu-Friedy. Saslow purchased the company from him and the result was Hu-Friedy Manufacturing Co., a global company that sells products to more than 90 countries and has over 1000 employees. Saslow served as president for 41 years before passing the role over to his son, Ron Saslow.

“For those of you who knew my father, you always felt his great passion and love for Hu-Friedy, dating back to the time he purchased the company in 1959,” Ron Saslow said. “He loved building teams of hard-working professionals who shared his relentless approach to continuous improvement. He will be missed by all of us lucky enough to have known or worked with him, but his spirit will live on through all the future chapters of HuFriedyGroup and through all of the lives he impacted along the way.”

“Mr. Saslow was a beloved leader and mentor and was respected by all, from entry-level employees to executives,” a statement from HuFriedyGroup read. “His emphasis on teamwork and empowerment left a lasting mark, and to this day, many employees have remained at the company for up to 30 and 40 years thanks to the strong culture of family that he established.”

Saslow received a number of honors throughout his career, including his introduction to the Dental Distributor Hall of Fame in 2013.

“In 2019, Mr. Saslow was ecstatic to see his 60 years, and Ron’s 30 years of effort and leadership culminate in becoming part of Cantel Medical and merging with Crosstex to form HuFriedyGroup,” the company’s statement read. “There is no doubt that the culture, values, and legacy of success that Mr. Saslow and the Saslow family have cultivated will live on well into the future.”