Eventually, Mr. Reder transformed his fascination with building model planes into a successful business and co-founded Monogram Models Inc., a company known today as Revell Inc., the world-renowned maker of model hobby kits. "The company started in my grandmother's basement," said daughter Renee Zalatoris. "He built the company from scratch, and it became so successful. So, to me that was one of his greatest achievements."
After retiring from the model hobby business, Mr. Reder became active in the Hangar One Foundation, a group dedicated to building a memorial for those who served at the Naval Air Station Glenview. Mr. Reder, 93, died of natural causes Sunday, Feb. 20, at an assisted-living facility in Glenview, his daughter said.
He was born and raised on Chicago's West Side and attended Crane Technical High School, specializing in drafting and mechanical drawing.
After graduating in 1935, he became a draftsman and designer at Comet Model Airplane &
Supply Co. in Chicago. At Comet, he met his wife, Bernice Jordan, who preceded him in death.
While with Comet during World War II, Mr. Reder worked with the Navy and other government agencies to develop a nationwide program for building "identification models" used for training by pilots and anti-aircraft gun crews.
These scale model kits of Allied and Axis aircraft were built by high school students in woodworking and craft shops and on military bases throughout the country. After the models were complete, they were used in pilot ready rooms for training aircraft gunners and spotters. Samples are on display in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
In 1945, Mr. Reder partnered with his friend, Jack Besser, and started Monogram Models Inc. in his mother's basement with their combined life savings of $5,000. The company began with balsa wood ship and airplane models, then shifted to injection-molded plastic models of planes, ships and cars. Eventually the company moved out of the basement into a loft on South Michigan Avenue, then a factory in north suburban Morton Grove in 1961.
In the early years, Mr. Reder would bring new models home for his children, to see if they had any difficulties putting them together.
"We would make notes on the instructions if a part didn't fit right or was defective," his daughter said. "We were like his quality testers."
By 1968, Monogram Models had grown to more than 300 employees and was sold to Mattel. In 1986, the Elk Grove Village-based Revell took over the company, creating the largest and best-known hobby kit manufacturer in the country.
In 2000, Mr. Reder became actively involved in the Hangar One Foundation, a group dedicated to creating a memorial for the men and women who served at Naval Air Station Glenview. He was instrumental in getting skilled modelers to build representative aircraft models for the Naval Air Station Glenview Museum.
He was also an adviser on historical events at the air station, coordinating modeling events and fly-ins held there.
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Reder is survived by three sons, Ronald, Robert and Russell; two other daughters, Roberta Slaby and Robin French; and 12 grandchildren.
Services have been held.
maramirez@tribune.com
February 27, 2011|By Margaret Ramirez, Tribune reporter