Obituary: Former Donaldson Co. CEO Bill Van Dyke was passionate leader, mentor

Bill Van Dyke, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, was just the no-excuses leader Donaldson Co. needed to push it into a decade of record profits and onto the world stage.

Van Dyke led the Bloomington-based maker of industrial filters and related products as chief executive from 1996 to 2004, a period when its sales doubled to around $1.4 billion. Offices and factories opened in Korea, China, France, England and Germany under his leadership.

He took little credit. "Our success isn't the product of whoever happens to be CEO at any moment," Van Dyke said in 2004. "It is the institution that matters. The individual is just an interesting detail."

Van Dyke died on Sept. 5 at his home in Pelican Lake after a long battle with cancer. He was 69. "He died way too young," said Bill Cook, Donaldson's current chief executive. "What he did over his career, not just as CEO, but before and after, it's pretty amazing. If he chose to do something, he was passionate about it. He didn't do anything halfway."

Just three weeks ago, Van Dyke asked Cook about the quarterly numbers. "He was still intensely interested," Cook said.

Van Dyke also served on the boards of Graco, Polaris Industries, Alliant Techsystems and the Minnesota Business Partnership. He was known as the mentor, University of Minnesota booster and the guy who insisted on setting high goals and stretching to reach them.

"He was voted the hardest-working board member" in the Twin Cities a couple of times, said his wife, Jodi Billy. "He approached that work with 150 percent effort," she said.

After returning, he joined dust filtration firm Torit Corp. in 1974, shortly before Donaldson acquired it.

He got his MBA in 1976 from the U's Carlson School of Management, built a 30-year career at Donaldson and readily shared his know-how with others. In 2012, he created a $10 million scholarship for veterans to attend the Carlson School's MBA program.

Van Dyke was meticulous in business but didn't wear it on his sleeve. Co-workers and board members recall his quick smile, ready handshake, fairness and comments about every job well done. He could meet people in a bar, chat for an hour, and they wouldn't know he was the top executive of a Fortune 500 manufacturer.

"He will be missed by us all," Graco chief executive Patrick McHale said. "Bill was a great friend, a mentor, and an invaluable member of our board of directors. He helped shape Graco's strategic vision and served with distinction."

Polaris CEO Scott Wine echoed the sentiment. "Our board will miss Bill's fiscal acumen and financial reporting oversight, but the most profound loss will be the absence of his friendship and guidance for those of us fortunate enough to have known him," Wine said.