Bob Hutzelman and his wife, Susan.
It didn’t take long for Howard Shiffman to recognize what Bob Hutzelman could bring to the team at Cornell Surgical Co., Bergenfield, N.J.
Shiffman, who is president of Cornell, met Hutzelman at an industry conference in 1990, and hired him about one year later. “He was very knowledgeable, had a great personality, and was very upbeat,” says Shiffman. “He made a nice appearance.”
Hutzelman worked at Cornell as a salesperson and sales manager until his untimely death in February.
Hutzelman was born in Oradell, N.J., and grew up in Ridgewood. It was at Ridgewood High School where he met his wife-to-be, Susan, she explains. Both subsequently went to Rutgers University. While attending Rutgers as a political science major, Hutzelman worked for a home oxygen company. Perhaps that was no surprise, as his mother was a visiting nurse in the state of New Jersey.
After he graduated in 1982, Hutzelman went to work full-time for the oxygen and DME firm, working closely with nursing services and discharge planners. “He was a great salesperson, because he always tried to make his customers happy,” says Susan Hutzelman. “He always tried to get them the deal they wanted.”
Hutzelman worked for a couple of companies before joining Cornell in 1991.
“He was very pro-customer,” says Shiffman. “He bent over backward to keep our customers happy – which is our business model.” And he instilled that ethic into the sales force as well.
“Bob wanted to make sales, but he wanted to make those sales for tomorrow,” that is, for the long term. “People would call here wanting to speak only with Bob,” Shiffman recalls. “He was their go-to person. If they needed something, he’d find it or get it taken care of.”
Hutzelman was businesslike, but also easy-going and relaxed, says Susan Hutzelman. People he knew in the business were more than acquaintances; they were friends.
“He liked building things, putting things together,” she says. In fact, he built a koi pond in their yard in Hewitt, N.J., on Greenwood Lake. He also loved fishing, hiking, animals (“We’ve always had a dog,” says Susan) and all kinds of music.
The Hutzelmans have two sons: Christopher, who works for Bank of America, and Daniel, who works with a glass installer. Two dogs too: Pugsley and Junior.