Remembering Lyle Bunn – An Amazing Display of Inspiration

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This week the online tributes have been pouring in after the passing of Lyle Bunn, renowned analyst, advisor and educator in the digital signage industry. As we read them on various sites we nod our heads and smile. The affable man they describe is the man we knew – always learning, always sharing his knowledge and insights, and always eager to help others succeed.

 

We caught up with Garry Wicka, Clark Brown and Dan Smith, LG’s head of marketing, vice president of sales, and vice president of business development, respectively, who had known Lyle both as a person and as an industry member.

Garry Wicka recalled a special time with Lyle:

“A couple years ago I had the great pleasure of going to a Toronto Blue Jays game with Lyle – part to discuss business, part to just watch a game and drink a beer. During the game Lyle casually mentioned that there is a street in Canada named after him because of baseball.

“My first assumption was that he was an amazing pro athlete that we just didn’t know about and his hometown wanted to celebrate the fact. It turned out I was a bit off.

“Smiling Lyle shared the story. When he was younger he used to help coach with his father a local semi-pro team. There was an annual tournament in a town close to where he grew up – for some reason that specific year the winner of the tournament was going to get to name one of the town’s streets. During the game Lyle was coaching third base. The game had gone back and forth and in the ninth his team was down by one run. His dad knew that Lyle was great at reading pitches, and being down to their final out made a substitution and actually brought Lyle in to bat – sure enough Lyle had been paying attention to the pitcher. On the first pitch Lyle knocked out a three-run homer, winning the tournament for the team. He was the hero of the game and so the town went ahead and changed one of the road names to his.

“To me this is the perfect story of Lyle – he lived some of the most incredible experiences, was never boastful, was a great listener and was always that person you could count on in the ninth inning.”

Clark Brown added, “Lyle Bunn was one of the true good guys in my eyes – he was always polite, always wanted to help, and was not concerned about his own success as he believed that it was more important to help others be successful. He was our national sales meeting keynote in 2016 and spoke to our Channel Champions meeting in May 2017, and looked to promote our brand with frequent introductions and positioning us in the market place. Lyle held a special place here at LG – he meant a lot to many of us and to our industry. His coined phrase ‘Dynamic Signage’ lives on as Lyle’s memory will also.”

Dan Smith concluded, “Lyle had a way of picking up each person and educating them, and enhancing the overall quality and spirit of the industry. He will be missed as he left the world a better place than he found it.”

Thank you Lyle, for setting the bar so high. Rest in peace, dear friend.