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Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article incorrectly spelled Katy Tindall Klose’s name. The Tribune apologizes for the error. 

The trajectory of Morristown and the Lakeway Area changed in 1978.

Why?

Because that’s when Pete and Sami Barile brought their family to town.

Pete was working for Shelby Williams in Pennsylvania and accepted a transfer to Hamblen County where he and Sami would go on to make a nearly immeasurable impact.

Pete and Sami each threw themselves into philanthropic endeavors, supporting a wide variety of nonprofit organizations both financially and as board members through the years. Sami worked at Keep America Beautiful and was eventually elected to be Morristown’s Mayor.

Pete co-founded Daniel Paul Chairs which has thrived over 20 years providing chairs to businesses and hotels (and more) around the world. The company remains an important part of Morristown’s industrial base and a link back to a time when furniture manufacturing dominated the area’s industrial base.

With nearly 50 years now to look back on, it is hard to imagine someone arriving in a community and making a more lasting impact than Pete Barile.

Barile died Tuesday evening, not long after attending a committee meeting.

“He seemed to be a jack of all trades,” said Katy Tindall Klose, a close friend of the family. “There weren’t many things that he couldn’t do, fix or design. He knew how to do everything and he was very free with his wisdom. You always knew you could count on him.”

Pete and Sami met in their native Illinois – introduced by their mothers, Klose said. After Sami graduated they married in 1967 before Pete shipped out to Korea for a 13-month tour.

The Army vet, who’d graduated from Lawrence University in 1964 and earned an MBA from the Wisconsin School of Business in 1966, joined Shelby Williams, which his father had helped put together with Manny Steinfeld, who later opened a facility in Morristown and much later co-founded Daniel Paul Chairs with Barile.

The couple – and their young family – moved to Philadelphia before making their way to Morristown.

“All the time working as a Senior Vice President at Shelby, he was the only one in management who had worked on all the lines coming up,” Klose said. “He knew everybody, I think, at the plant.”

As he was building his career at Shelby Williams, Pete threw himself – as did Sami – into supporting community organizations.

“Community pride is also an individual responsibility,” Pete said in 2015.

A short – and incomplete – list of organizations to which Pete devoted his time and expertise include the Chamber of Commerce, Girls Inc, Morristown Regional Planning Commission, Encore Theatrical Company, East Tennessee Local Workforce Development and many, many, many more.

“When he got on any board, the first thing he did was come in and analyze it, restructure it and fix it up,” Klose said. “Every board seemed to be (in a better position_ when he left it than it was when he arrived.”

Morristown Mayor Gary Chesney, agreed.

“The loss of Pete Barile is a significant loss to the community,” Chesney said. “He shared his skills as a community leader with the Chamber of Commerce and a number of committees. He and Sami both are a big part of Morristown. We are saddened by the loss.

“They are both giving people, giving of themselves to make their community better.”

David Purkey – former commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security under former Gov. Bill Haslam said two things came to mind when he thought of Pete Barile.

“No. 1 he worked until he left this Earth. He always had a desire to have a purpose filled life. We talked about that,” Purkey said. “And then the second thing that I would say about him and Mayor Barile were early supporters of Gov. Haslam and remained supporters. He really had a high regard for them. I knew how much he thought of them.”

That work ethic and desire to lead a purpose filled life also stood out to Barile’s long-time business associate and partner at Daniel Paul Chairs, Richard Thompson.

“Pete was always working, he didn’t stop. When he left here, he had another job to go to out at home or out in the public,” Thompson said. “He was very civic minded. I don’t think he ever rested. He had everyone’s best interest at heart.”

It was Pete and Richard’s efforts that helped Morristown remain connected to its industrial past, said Marshall Ramsey, president of the Morristown Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Morristown was long known as the ‘Chair Capital of the World’ and Pete and Richard were integral to this part of Morristown’s manufacturing history. They were one of the few furniture leaders to weather the international storm as mass migration, labor rates and logistics allowed furniture manufacturers to relocate overseas and Morristown saw the loss of thousands of furniture jobs over just a few years,” Ramsey explained. “Pete was always a step ahead and strived to continue to produce a quality product in America. Still today, as I travel around the world, I flip conference room chairs over for that Daniel Paul logo and MADE IN MORRISTOWN.

“Pete had a pride in his community that not only influenced our Chamber of Commerce but many other nonprofits and community organizations. Pete was the type of leader to ask tough questions; push for greater efficiency and strive to make his company and community the best it could be. This resiliency truly makes Pete one of the faces of manufacturing in Morristown and our Chamber is proud to say he was one of our leaders.”

For Mike Fishman, who served on several boards and committees with Pete, it wasn’t just the work ethic. It was the obvious depth of feeling, the sincere level of care that were behind those efforts that stood out.

“Pete was a very sincere person. He cared about our community and he cared about people,” Fishman said. “When you would speak with Pete about something he was passionate about, he would always overflow with emotion, you could see his passion for people and helping others. He will be missed.”

Barile was a world traveler who loved the family dog Maisie and a sweet treat, Klose said.

“He was a chocolate hound,” she said. “They kept a certain kind of candy bar for him over at the club,”

Pete leaves behind his beloved wife Sami, and their three children; Breau (Vickie) Barile, Jason (Jessica) Barile and Brynn (Dana) Rice as well as two sets of grand-twins.

Full obituary information will be released at a later date.