John Bennis, president of multi-line rep firm, Sequel, Inc., in Virginia Beach, Virginia, passed away on April 12. He was 71 years old.

Few promotional products multi-line reps have a background as broad in scope and as rich in diversity as Bennis. By the time he founded his own rep firm in 1981, Bennis’s career was in full-throttle. After graduating from the University of Illinois, he was hired to teach scuba diving at the Playboy Club in Jamaica but was wooed away by his father’s best friend to become a premium rep. Over the next few years he was a national sales manager for apparel lines Swingster and Modern Jacket. Before launching his rep firm, he opened a hat manufacturing business and later a clothing firm that manufactured NASCAR apparel. The latter began his long sales relationship with the racing industry, where he learned the ins and outs of NASCAR sponsorships and product licensing.

His interest in the track waned in 1992 when his son, Max, was born. He decided to call it quits with his NASCAR clients because he didn’t want to spend 20 weeks on the road and every weekend at the races. Bennis went back to his roots selling for Klouda-Lenz, the national sales division for what was then the clothing manufacturer Munsingwear. The company later became Premiumwear and eventually was acquired by River’s End Trading Company.

Bennis also lectured at the University of Georgia business school in the areas of sports marketing and events, and he held two patents acquired in the 1980s for a handheld credit card transcriber used by Mary Kay, Tupperware and Avon. He was honored as a PPB Best Multi-Line Rep in 2016.

“Our industry has lost an icon, someone who has mentored hundreds of people—distributors, suppliers and other multi line reps,” says friend and colleague Harvey Mackler, president of Gempire. “He was loved by so many in our industry. He leaves a void that cannot be filled.”

Bennis is predeceased by his beloved son Max and is survived by his wife Gina and daughter Dana. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.