Co-founder of group that became NTEA dies

July 1, 2002
William Angus Matheson Jr, a co-founder of the Truck Equipment and Body Distributors Association (TEBDA) and former president of the Portable Elevator

William Angus “Bill” Matheson Jr, a co-founder of the Truck Equipment and Body Distributors Association (TEBDA) and former president of the Portable Elevator Mfg Co, died Dec 8, 2001, at his home in Longboat Key FL. He was 82.

Matheson was born Dec 6, 1919, in Oregon City OR, the son of William Angus Matheson Sr and Maude Moore Matheson. The younger Matheson married Jeanne E Manley in 1942 in Bethlehem PA; she died in 1998.

A 1941 graduate of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Matheson served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946. He joined Portable Elevator Mfg in 1955 and served as vice-president, director, and then president until his retirement in 1984. Matheson served as director for Dynamics Corp after it bought Portable Elevator in 1967.

Besides co-founding TEBDA, which became the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA), Matheson was a member and past president, treasurer, and director of the Farm Equipment Manufacturers Association, and he served with several other groups. Survivors include three daughters, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandson.